Sulphuric acid attacker who left man looking like 'zombie' facing jail

A man who carried out a horrific acid attack on a 25-year-old over his intimate relationship with a married woman was facing a life sentence today.
Awais Akram was left severely disfigured after he was targeted in revenge for his liaison with businesswoman Sadia Khatoon, whom he met on Facebook.
When her husband and family found out, they got Ms Khatoon, 24, to lure the victim out of his flat, where concentrated sulphuric acid was poured over his head.
Mr Akram, who was left with 47 per cent burns, said he was in so much pain at the time that he wanted to die.
'My whole body started to burn,' he said.
He said: 'When I started feeling this, I did not know how to understand it.
'At that point I just felt that I would be dead. Death was, I felt, a better solution than to be burning like this.'
One witness said he looked like a 'cross between a zombie from a horror movie and the Incredible Hulk' after the attack last July.
Ms Khatoon and her husband Shakeel Abassi, 32, later disappeared in Pakistan and detectives said they now feared for her safety.
Her brother Mohammed Vakas admitted pouring the acid on Mr Akram, during a taped police van conversation with cousin and fellow conspirator Mohammed Adeel.

During the attack, the men received instructions from Ms Khatoon's husband Abassi, who was in a hotel room near Heathrow with his wife. She was on the phone with the unsuspecting victim who was telling her his whereabouts.
Vakas, 26, of Walthamstow, north east London, was found guilty today of conspiracy to murder.
Adeel, 20, also of Walthamstow and a 17-year-old youth were cleared of the charge but convicted of conspiracy to cause grievous bodily harm.
Police hailed the victim's bravery in coming forward to give evidence against them despite being deeply traumatised by what happened and one officer described him as an 'incredible young man'.

Mr Akram survived the attack but faces a lifetime of treatment to help him recover as far as possible from his life-changing injuries.
He has been helped by his family and his wife Sameera, 27, who he had just married at the time of the assault.
Mr Akram described how on the night he had heard footsteps from behind him before being attacked.
'Somebody hit me on my leg first from behind and then I fell on the ground and then two, three or four people surrounded me and then they all started to assault me by beating, then they threw acid before they left.

Awais Akram before the attack last year

Mohammed Vakas has been found guilty at the Old Bailey of conspiracy to murder and is facing a life sentence.

'At that time I did not know that this was acid, when they were trying to push it into my mouth, but I knew that there was something very dangerous that they were trying to force into my mouth.

'At that time I wasn't conscious enough to understand but whenever I think of it now I really start shaking and shivering, and I can't believe that someone can do this to another person.'
Mr Akram did not know his attackers but at the time heard the name 'Sadia'.
'Before that I did not understand why they were beating me up, now I understand it was because of my relationship with Sadia.'
Asked about his feelings towards her now, he said: 'Whoever are involved in this, I hope they get a big sentence.'
He added: 'Because of this attack on me I feel that all my confidence is lost and my life is all changed.'
Mr Akram described the psychological effects as well as the physical damage to his skin.
'I have a fear that somebody is going to attack me from behind, I always have that in my mind all the time.'
He said he did not know how long his treatment would take - 'four years, maybe more, maybe the whole of my life'.
Speaking through an Urdu interpreter, Mr Akram said: 'I thank God, I thank Allah, that I am still alive and that I have the support of everyone.'
He added: 'Everybody has been praying for me. I know the doctors had said I would not survive.'
Doctors at the Broomfield Hospital in Chelmsford, Essex, are continuing to treat Mr Akram for his injuries but he says he is not sure how much the scarring on his face can be repaired.
'Whenever I am walking on the road, people are looking at me in the way that upsets me,' he said.