Mary Konye Found Guilty Of Attacking Her Friend,Naomi Oni With Acid

The horrific injuries of a Victoria's Secret worker who had acid hurled in her face have been revealed as her childhood friend has been found guilty of carrying out the attack while disguised in a Muslim veil. 

Mary Konye, 21, stalked Naomi Oni from the lingerie store where she worked after her friend had likened her to a monster from a horror film.

Miss Oni, also 21, was scarred for life after Konye doused her with concentrated sulphuric acid near her home in Dagenham, Essex.

CCTV footage obtained by police after the attack showed Konye in a niqab following her as she left work at the Victoria's Secret shop in Westfield shopping centre in Stratford at around 11.30pm.

She suffered serious burns to her face and chest, lost her hair and eyelashes, and required skin graft surgery to cover the burns.

The jury at Snaresbrook Crown Court reached its unanimous verdict following around seven and a half hours of deliberations after it was sent out yesterday afternoon.

Miss Oni's mother jumped from her set and appeared jubilant at the verdict

Judge David Radford adjourned sentence until March 7 while psychological reports are prepared and said: 'In ordering these reports my judgement is that in all likelihood the case well lead to a substantial custodial sentence.

'But it will not be decided until I have had these reports - I do not want Konye to misunderstand the reasons.'

He said: 'I should make clear that, in my judgment, this is a case that will, in all likelihood, need a substantial custodial sentence. It is inevitable, but it won’t be dealt with until I have received those reports.'

He thanked the jurors for their efforts, saying they had looked at the evidence 'with great thoroughness, taking your time to reach your verdict'.

Miss Oni burst into tears as she left the courtroom and was hugged by family and friends.

Konye, a business and finance student, of Canning Town, east London, had denied throwing or casting a corrosive fluid with intent to burn, maim, disfigure, disable or do grievous bodily harm.

But dressed in black, Konye remained calm as the jury of eight men and four women returned their verdict.

A jury at London's Snaresbrook Crown Court had earlier heard that, the day after the attack, Konye had offered Miss Oni a shoulder to cry on, and had sent a mobile phone message to her friend, who was in hospital receiving treatment, saying 'OMG, I can't believe it.'

Konye, was also said to have asked Muslim students about where to buy a niqab, or Islamic veil.

The court heard that Konye told a friend she planned to have her raped and wanted to disfigure Miss Oni, saying: ‘I’m going to mess up the one thing that girl has – her looks.’

Omolola Vincent, 20, told the North-East London court: ‘She said she was going to throw acid on her. She told me she had acid. She bought it online.’ 

In 2008, model and TV presenter Katie Piper was badly scarred and left blind in one eye in an assault arranged by her ex-boyfriend, Daniel Lynch.

Miss Oni earlier told the court that Konye was aware of how much of an impact Ms Piper's ordeal had on her after watching a television documentary about it.

The pair had been friends since secondary school, but suffered a vicious fall out in April 2011 when Miss Oni allegedly accused Konye of texting her boyfriend and called her an 'ugly monster'.

Instead she claimed that Miss Oni had hatched an elaborate plan to throw acid in her own face so that she could become as famous as Miss Piper.