Man jailed for role in Hackney 'acid attack'

Peter Brown was one of the men involved in an attempted robbery of a Vietnamese supermarket in Hackney in March 2017

A man has been jailed for 10 years for his role in a failed robbery which left a shopkeeper badly injured from a corrosive substance.

The victim had ammonia squirted in her face as masked men tried to rob a store in Hackney on 10 March, 2017.

She suffered burn injuries, but managed to press a panic alarm.

Peter Brown, 29, was sentenced at Wood Green Crown Court after admitting to attempted robbery and corrosive fluid charges.

The court heard that Brown, of Stanford-le-Hope, Essex, travelled to Mare Street in Hackney where he met four other men.

Brown provided the gang with bottles of ammonia for the robbery.

The group waited until the shopkeeper was alone before attacking her

The Met Police said that before making demands and in an effort to incapacitate the victim, one of the men squirted high-strength ammonia in her face, causing burn injuries.

The victim screamed for help and tried to resist and she was sprayed again.

As she lay on the ground, one of the gang stamped on her with such force it left a visible footprint on her body.

In relation to this attack, two other men - Sadik Kamara, 25, Newham and Joshua Jordan, 21, Newham - were convicted last October and given 10 years in prison.

The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) said Brown was identified by forensic analysis of the ammonia bottle left at the scene.

A CPS statement said two other suspects "remain at large and are wanted by police."

It added: "Although Brown stayed outside the shop as a look-out, under the law he was responsible for the attempted robbery and throwing acid because he knew what was going to happen.

"He was also seen carrying the ammonia used in the attack."