A
father-of-one is left scarred for life and partially blind after a
man hurled acid in his face in a 'revenge attack' - but had targeted the
wrong victim in a case of mistaken identity.
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| Andreas Christopheros pictured before and after the attack |
Property
developer Andreas Christopheros, 29, suffered a permanent loss of
vision and horrific burns when David Phillips threw the corrosive
material in his face.
Phillips,
48, today admitted attacking Mr Christopheros on his doorstep in Truro,
Cornwall, after travelling more than 300 miles from his own home in
Hastings, East Sussex.
Mr Christopheros appeared in public today for the first time since the incident last December as Phillips admitted his guilt.
He wore sunglasses and a face shield, but the extensive burns across his face were still visible (see above 'after' picture)
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| David Phillips - the culprit who hurled acid on a targeted wrong victim |
Phillips
had been due to stand trial for causing grievious bodily harm with
intent, but he changed his plea to guilty on the first day of
proceedings at Truro Crown Court.
Charges against Phillips' wife Nicole, 45, of perverting the course of justice were then dropped by the prosecution as a result.
Phillips
appeared in the dock wearing a scruffy grey jumper to plead guilty to
unlawfully and maliciously causing GBH with intent to cause harm.
Phillip
Lee, prosecuting, said: 'The crown's case has always been that Mr
Christopheros was an innocent man who was targetted wrongly.
'The victim was left with very serious life chancing injuries.'
No further details about the incident that took place in Truro last December were given in court.
But
after the hearing, DCI David Thorne, the lead officer in the case,
said: 'We believe it was a revenge attack and he did get the wrong
person completely.
'He felt a member of his family had been seriously hurt.
'I
am not going to go into detail about that incident but he felt
aggrieved and thought he needed to take revenge against the person who
had done it.
'But
he got the wrong address and injured the wrong person. He thought he
had the right address - but as it turns out he was in completely the
wrong area.
'The whole thing was ill-prepared and ill-thought out.
'The end result is an innocent victim who has been left with serious life-changing injuries.'
Mohammed
Bashir, mitigating, said: 'There is underlying reasons why this offence
occurred taking into account background and family life.
'It is essentially his first offence.'
Mr
Christopheros had several business interests and helped organise the
Run to the Sun event, an annual custom car and dance festival which
attracts around 100,000 car fans to Newquay every summer.
He is also thought to have worked on BBC Radio One roadshows.
Privately educated, he attended King's College in Taunton, Somerset, before graduating from Plymouth University.
The case was adjourned ahead of sentencing at Truro Crown Court on 9 October.
