Huge rise in acid attacks

ACID attacks and threats have rocketed by 75% in 12 months, with women increasingly targeted, shock findings reveal.

- Paul Jeeves

Research by charity Acid Survivors Trust International showed 1,244 offences involving corrosives were recorded in 2023, compared with 710 over the previous 12 months.

However, just 8% of cases lead to charges and almost a third do not progress because of lack of victim support.

Campaigners are renewing calls for urgent Government action to tackle the "atrocious" crimes that leave victims scarred for life.

Spike

Historically, acid attacks in the UK are associated with gang-related male-on-male violence.

But trends in recent years show they are increasingly linked with attacks against women and girls.

Northumbria and London had the highest number of recorded physical acid attacks.