Police say 47-year-old targeted by person on a passing moped or bicycle in Ladywood area

This article is more than 2 years old

This article is more than 2 years old

A woman has suffered serious injuries to her face after becoming the latest victim of an acid attack in Britain.



The 47-year-old was targeted at about 10am on Tuesday in the Ladywood area of Birmingham by an individual on a passing moped or bicycle.

West Midlands police appealed for witnesses or anyone who may have information. “Police are investigating an attack in which a corrosive substance was thrown at a woman in Ladywood, Birmingham, just after 10am this morning,” the force said in a statement.

Police said the woman was thought to have been in the vicinity of Northbrook Street when the substance was thrown at her. She was taken to hospital for treatment.

A three-year-old boy was targeted in a separate suspected acid attack at a shop in Worcester on Saturday. A 41-year-old man from Wolverhampton has become the fifth person arrested over allegations of conspiracy to commit grievous bodily harm.

Officers are continuing to question three men from London aged in their 20s who were arrested early on Monday in connection with the alleged acid attack on the child.

A 39-year-old man from Wolverhampton who was arrested on Sunday also remains in custody after the attack, which left the boy with burns to his face and arm.

Britain has one of world’s highest rates of corrosive substance attacks. The number of crimes using acid or other “noxious substances” has more than doubled in London over recent years.

In the capital, the number of incidents rose from 186 between April 2014 and March 2015 to 397 during the same period in 2016-17.

In April, Amber Rudd, the then home secretary, launched the government’s strategy to tackle serious violence. Underpinned by £40m of Home Office funding and a new offensive weapons bill, the strategy set out a range of measures to tackle the use of knives, guns and acid in violent attacks.

