A woman who was scarred for life by an acid attack arranged by her ex partner has spoken out about the battle she has faced to rebuild her life.

Vikki Horsman, 21, from Smethwick, West Midlands, suffered horrific burns after jealous Mohammed Rafiq, aged 80, paid two thugs to throw sulphuric acid in her face after she broke up with him.

The care assistant told The Sun newspaper: 'I feel so stupid for believing he really loved me. I can't believe how deceitful he was.'

Vikki Horsman (left), 21, was left disfigured after sulphuric acid was hurled in her face by jealous Mohammed Rafiq, pictured right

Her injuries were so severe that doctors placed Vikki, then 19, in an induced coma for six days to help her body recover from the 25 per cent burns to her face, chest and neck.

But the victim - who said she felt 'like a monster' the first time she saw herself in the mirror - insists the mental scars run just as deep.

She said: 'Visions of the attack constantly replay in my mind and I've only just been able to get back to work after being signed off with anxiety, depression and pain.'

The young woman revealed she was so traumatised by the way she looked she hid indoors at first and still covers up now.

However she has started to rebuild her confidence after finding new love with Richard, 26, a gardener from Smethwick, who she met last year.

She said: 'I still have my low days, but having such an amazing man on my arm makes me feel like I can take on the world.'

Miss Horsman admitted that she was extremely vulnerable when she got together with Rafiq after grieving the loss of both her parents to cancer.

Miss Horsman had converted to Islam after pressure from Rafiq. She only ate halal food, adopted Muslim prayers and wore a headscarf

She had believed he was 45 and insisted the age gap did not bother her as she 'needed an older person to rely on'.

She said Rafiq, whom she had known since she was 14, had bought her a car and become increasingly controlling.

'He often accused me of cheating on him,' she said.

She said her ex lover, who she had started sleeping with aged 18, had pressured her to become a Muslim in November 2003 - even though she had not wanted to.

Miss Horsman had even changed her name to Aleena Rafiq to please the pensioner - who was more than six times her senior.

It meant only eating halal food, adopting Muslim prayers and changing the way she dressed as she chose to wear a headscarf.

She added: 'He became a lot more controlling. He wanted to know where I was a lot more. He kept checking up on me to make sure I was where I said I was.

'One day I came home from shopping and he was there.

Miss Horsman had the black oil-like liquid thrown at her when she answered the door of a friend's house in Tividale, West Midlands (pictured)

Rafiq persuaded Steven Holmes, 25, (left) and Shannon Heaps, 22, (right) to carry out the attack and initially pretended he was also a victim after he too was splashed by the acid

'He told me he had found condom wrappers in my bed side drawer. He showed me pictures he had taken on his phone. He was angry, he accused me of sleeping with somebody else.'

Matters came to a head in early 2014 when Rafiq went through her personal belongings and she decided to end their relationship.

Miss Horsman said she felt 'nothing but relief' after reverting to her original name and her old beliefs.

However she described how the pensioner got 'very angry' and wouldn't accept they were no longer together.

On 15 April last year Miss Horsman was left horribly disfigured after she was doused with the black oil-like liquid as she answered the door at her friend's house in Tividale, West Midlands.

She said that Rafiq had been with her at the house, dog-sitting, where she was going to get some sleep before starting her nightshift at work.

Describing the lead up to the attack, Miss Horsman said she was removing her contact lenses in the upstairs bathroom, when she heard 'a knock at the door and muffled voices'.

Miss Horsman admitted she was vulnerable when she met Rafiq after losing both her parents

Rafiq told her it was 'a man for you', she said, but as she opened the front door she was confronted by a man 'in a grey hoodie, a bandana over his face, and his hood up'.

She said: 'He asked if I was Vikki, I said yes and that was when the substance was thrown over me. I felt a burning in my face and lips.'

'I ran to the mirror to see what was happening. Then I ran to the kitchen, and splashed water over my face to try and get rid of it.

'I tried to call an ambulance but they couldn't understand what I was saying, I was just screaming.

'I asked Mohammed to call them and give them the address. I can't remember him doing anyone else.

'I was splashing water on my face. Mohammed gave me a bottle of water as I could feel it burning inside my mouth.'

Pakistan-born Rafiq had persuaded Steven Holmes, 25, and Shannon Heaps, 22, to carry out the attack and initially pretended he was also a victim after he too was splashed by the acid

In December last year Mohammed Rafiq, was found guilty of arranging the attack in revenge for Miss Horsman breaking up with him.

Rafiq was jailed for 18 years for GBH with intent and perverting the course of justice. Holmes and Heaps, who were paid £50 to carry out the attack, were jailed for 14 and 12 years respectively.

Speaking following the trial, Miss Horsman said: 'What happened that day changed my life forever.

'I have had to undergo lots of treatment for the burns and the damage those people caused.

'I suffered severe scarring to my neck and chest and have recently had to undergo further surgery to help my recovery.

'But, it is not just what everyone can see that causes me pain.

'The trauma and distress that Rafiq and his accomplices have put my under have left mental scars that I fear will never go away.

The 21-year-old, pictured before the attack, said she felt like a 'monster' when she first saw her injuries and initially hid indoors

Miss Horsman, who is badly scarred on her neck and chest, is starting to rebuild her life with new love Richard, 26

'I still have sleepless nights and keep leaving my home to stay with friends and relatives as I can't bear to be on my own.

'This is what those people have done to me - all because I had the courage to be my own person and escape a controlling man.

'I know I have to be strong and am pleased that justice has been done but no matter how satisfied I am to see Rafiq and the others go to jail, that won't turn the clock back and take away the scars they have left me with.'

Miss Horsman, who has undergone skin grafts taken from her right thigh, will require intensive scar management and occupational therapy for years and possibly further surgery.

Speaking after the case, Detective Constable Jason Moseley, investigating officer for West Midlands Police, said: 'This was a horrifying and complex case which centred around a controlling relationship.

'Rafiq's young ex-partner was seriously injured and left with devastating, lasting scars, which one can only presume was his intent given the nature of the planned attack.

'He recruited two people to carry out the attack on his behalf and then tried to claim that he was also a victim.