Alexander Bassey, 17, sentenced to eight years for unprovoked attack on five friends that left some with permanent injuries

This article is more than 4 years old

This article is more than 4 years old

A teenager who sprayed acid over a group of friends in an unprovoked attack, leaving some of them with permanent scars, has been jailed for eight years.

Alexander Bassey, 17, attacked his five victims at Ockendon rail station in Essex as a train pulled in during the early hours of 22 May.

Bassey gestured towards the friends and encouraged them to join him on the train, which was heading to Barking. When the group refused, he left the train and approached the five while yelling abuse at them, British Transport police said.

He then sprayed a highly corrosive substance over them before running back on to the train.

Bassey, of Barking, admitted three charges of causing grievous bodily harm (GBH) and two charges of attempted GBH at an earlier hearing.

He was jailed for eight years at Basildon crown court on Friday.

Three of the victims were left with permanent scars, one of them with potentially life-changing eye injuries.

DS Gail McKemmie, the senior investigating officer, said: “This was a vicious and cowardly attack carried out without a single ounce of care.

“Bassey had no apparent motive for the attack and showed absolutely no remorse when questioned by police.”

Jason Corden-Bowen, the district crown prosecutor for West Midlands CPS, said: “The teenage defendant in this case went out that evening with a bottle of highly corrosive industrial strength drain cleaner with the clear intention of harming someone.

“All five victims suffered facial burns and some have been left with permanent scarring as a result of this senseless attack.”

• This article was amended on 12 August 2016 to remove a personal detail.