A SELF-CONFESSED acid attacker has revealed the chilling tactics used by gangs who use corrosive liquids as weapons to scar and maim their rivals.

In a documentary filmed for Vice, the anonymous man claims gangs dip their knives in acid to make attacks more vicious and make a point of targeting women — because they care more about their looks.

It comes amid a terrifying spike in the number of acid attacks in the last 12 months with victims left scarred for life or blinded.

Just last week a number of people were seriously hurt after a 90-minute spree saw muggers throw acid at innocent victims in five different areas of London.

In the chilling documentary, the acid attacker explained how a gang mate flung acid in the face of a young mum outside a supermarket as revenge for her boyfriend sparking a fight at a rave.

Speaking from East London but keeping his identity hidden, he said: “My boy brought out a bottle, like a Lucozade bottle. Waited for them, they came out, I’m racking up the guy just punching him and whatnot. And my boy he just undid the bottle and he just splashed the girl.”

When asked why they attacked the innocent woman, he simply said: “If I can’t damage you enough, I’m coming for your people.”

But shockingly, the man added that attacks like these don’t get reported to the police — and he totally believes victims deserve the attacks.

“No snitching, simple as that no snitching. With the war on the mandem, if someone got acid in their face, trust me, they did something. No ifs no buts, they deserved that.”

He said knives are still the number one weapon of choice among gangs — but claims acid is now being used as well as knives to make stabbings even more brutal.

A bottle of acid can be bought for just a couple of dollars in any DIY store and can be carried around without arousing suspicion.

Thugs who throw acid are usually charged with GBH, rather than wounding with intent, so often get much lower sentences.

He claimed: “Knives are still number one. You can go in your mum’s kitchen and get a knife. I’ve heard about people putting acid on a knife and stabbing someone so the wound doesn’t heal and that.”

And in another horrifying confession, the man admits he’d “nine times out of ten” target women with acid because they’re more likely to be affected by the impact on their beauty.

He said: “On a girl, they love their beauty, so hurt them, innit. Cause on a guy if you get scarred, it’s a scar, like, you show it to your guys.”

But this goes against trends in Britain as a whole — as two thirds of victims in the UK are men, compared to global figures where 80 per cent of victims are women.

One of those victims is Samir Hussain, who was randomly attacked in a cinema car park.

He hit out at short sentences after one of his attackers was sentenced to just eight years.

He told Vice: “What they’re doing is trying to destroy someone’s life, so why shouldn’t they get that in return? Acid attacks are on the increase, so at the moment there’s no other way to deter a person, so if they do see that [longer] sentencing happen I think it will.”

He added: “Closure is probably never going to happen, because I am scarred for life so when I look in the mirror or if I ever have a happy time in my life and look back at memories I’m always going to be scarred now.

“My identity has changed because of what’s happened and yeah, I’m not the same person.”

LONDON ACID ATTACKS: TEENAGERS SPRAYED VICTIMS FROM MOPED

This story originally appeared in The Sun and has been republished here with permission.