A teenage acid attacker lifts his helmet and gives away his identity as he stops to buy petrol during a two-hour robbery spree.

The CCTV pictures show Derryck John, who was just 16 when he went on a rampage through east London, spraying corrosive liquid at moped riders in a bid to steal their scooters.

Riding pillion with an accomplice, John, now 17, would squirt victims with acid through their helmet visors. He carried out six attacks in the two hours. They only ended when he crashed into the back of a parked lorry in Dalston. He fled on foot but was arrested.

The CCTV images of him lifting his helmet allowed police to identify him and link him to the attacks.

Today John, of Thornton Heath, was told at Wood Green crown court to expect a lengthy jail sentence after admitting a string of offences. His accomplice is still at large.

Adjourning sentencing until Monday Judge Noel Lucas said the "starting point" would be a jail sentence of 12 years.

"The starting point for one of these offences is 12 years, but when I am dealing with six offences involving acid coupled with robberies it has to be more," he said.

He left some victims with life-changing injuries and stole two bikes during the attacks. The Crown Prosecution Service said one man lost 30 per cent of his vision. Others described “searing pain and burning” and had to quit their jobs.

Restrictions on naming the boy were lifted at an earlier hearing by Judge Lucas, who said: “There’s an overwhelming public interest in knowing the identity of the defendant and his age.”

John’s rampage on July 13 last year took him from Stratford to Islington, Shoreditch, Stoke Newington and Hackney.

It began when a moped rider in Penny Brookes Street, Stratford, was pursued at 9.30pm. He eventually managed to lose the thugs. At 10.25pm, they threw acid in the face of a 32-year-old rider in Hackney Road and fled with his moped.

At 10.49pm a rider aged 44 in St Paul’s Road, Islington, also had acid thrown at him.

At 11.05pm a 52-year-old man was attacked in Shoreditch High Street, then a man aged 24 was targeted in Cazenove Road in Stoke Newington at 11.18pm.

A short time later, at 11.25pm, John was captured on CCTV pulling up to a Texaco garage in Mare Street, Hackney. The images show his face clearly as he lifts his helmet and pays for £5 of petrol.

At 11.37pm, the pair struck again, throwing acid in the face of a 33-year-man in Chatsworth Road, Lower Clapton and stealing his moped. But at 3am John crashed the stolen bike into the parked lorry in Dalston.

Members of the public tried to help him but John fled rather than wait for medical treatment. He was arrested minutes later. Custody photos show him wearing trainers matching those seen in the petrol station, as well as an Arsenal away strip.

In January John admitted six counts of throwing a corrosive liquid with intent to cause grievous bodily harm, two counts of robbery, and four counts of attempted robbery.

Ramesh Patel, of the CPS, said: “Derryck John claimed he was not involved in these attacks. CCTV from a petrol station was key to his identification and conviction.

“He was filmed stepping off a stolen Vespa scooter, lifting his motorcycle helmet and revealing his face. That evidence, alongside further material including CCTV of Derryck John wearing the same clothes and shoes during the attacks, led to his guilty pleas on the day of the trial.”

He said of the victims: “Had they not been wearing helmets their injuries could have been much more serious.”

Police are hunting moped thieves who used a machete to slash a man’s hand in a mobile phone robbery today. The 26-year-old victim was attacked by two men on a scooter in Packington Street, Islington, at about 3.18am.