Get the stories that matter to you sent straight to your inbox with our daily newsletter. Subscribe Thank you for subscribing We have more newsletters Show me See our privacy notice Invalid Email

An aspiring model and her cousin were subjected to a horror acid attack as they celebrated her 21st birthday.

Tattooed thug John Tomlin, 25, has admitted hurling acid over Resham Khan and Jameel Mukhtar, 37, while they waited in a car at traffic lights.

The pair were left with "life changing injuries" as they suffered severe burns to the face and body after the attack.

Tomlin had previously pleaded guilty to a lesser charge.

(Image: GoFundMe)

But the previous plea was not accepted by the Crown Prosecution Service and he was due to stand trial today charged with GBH with intent at Snaresbrook Crown Court.

However this afternoon Tomlin changed his plea and admitted the more serious two offences of GBH with intent.

Tomlin was not arrested until July 9 - more than a fortnight after the attack in Beckton, south London - when he handed himself in at a police station.

(Image: Metropolitan Police/PA Wire)

Today in the dock Tomlin, wearing a blue and white t-shirt and blue trousers, spoke only to confirm his name and plead guilty to the two remaining charges in the indictment, and was seen winking at family members in the public gallery.

At a previous hearing in October he denied two counts of causing grievous bodily harm with intent but pleaded guilty to two lesser counts of unlawfully and maliciously inflicting GBH.

Judge Sheeagh Canavan adjourned sentencing until the New Year for psychiatric reports regarding dangerousness to be carried out.

(Image: Universal News (Europe))

She said it was a "somewhat random targeting of these victims as they have no previous dealings with Tomlin".

After the attack Ms Khan wrote on Twitter said: "I saw my clothes burn away in front of me.

"We stripped off in the middle of the road, running around screaming and begging for water."

(Image: central news)

In an interview with Channel 4 News a few days after the attack Mr Muhktar said he felt "somebody's ironing me 24/7".

He said: "It was excruciating pain. I was screaming like a baby. I'm petrified.

"I don't know what's going to happen. I'm going to be scarred for live. I'm emotionally wrecked. I'm in continuous pain."

Tomlin, of Canning Town, London, was remanded in custody until a sentencing hearing on January 26.