Mangle E8 acid attack: Arthur Collins to be sentenced for throwing substance in London Fields club

Arthur Collins is due to be sentenced today, after being found guilty last month of throwing acid in the London Fields nightclub Mangle E8.

Two people were temporarily blinded and others were permanently disfigured after Collins hurled the substance over a crowd of people inside the Warburton Road venue.

The 25-year-old, of Broxbourne, Hertfordshire, who is the father of reality TV performer Ferne McCann’s baby daughter, was convicted at Wood Green Crown Court on November 13 of five counts of grievous bodily harm with intent, and nine counts of actual bodily harm against 14 people.

In a pre-trial hearing prosecutors said the incident was set against the backdrop of ongoing gang-violence and gang activities. They claimed Collins had attacked rival gang members in the club.

Collins’ co-defendant, Andre Phoenix, 21, of Clyde Road, Tottenham, north London, was acquitted of four counts of grievous bodily harm and two of actual bodily harm.

Collins admitted throwing the bottle of fluid over clubbers but said he did not know it was acid.

He claimed he thought the liquid was a date rape drug, which he had snatched from two men after overhearing them planning to spike a girl’s drink.