The ex-boyfriend of a reality TV star threw acid in a crowded nightclub, injuring 16 people, after an altercation between a group of men, a court has heard.

Arthur Collins, 25, the father of the unborn child of Ferne McCann, from The Only Way Is Essex, threw the corrosive liquid into the face of one young man, then threw it twice more at others at Mangle in Dalston, east London, on 17 April.



Collins, of Broxbourne in Hertfordshire, and co-defendant Andre Phoenix, of Tottenham in north London, deny five counts of grievous bodily harm with intent and 11 counts of actual bodily harm.



The incident allegedly started with “pushing and shoving” between a group of men, the prosecutor, Luke Ponte, told Wood Green crown court.



“It is not clear exactly how this trouble started. But it is very clear how it ended – suddenly and decisively, and not at all in keeping with what had gone before,” he said.



“One of the young men, perhaps perceiving the threat of a knife, threw a bottle or a container of acid into the face of another young man. As that man went down in pain, the aggressor threw acid a second time, directed towards another man, and then threw acid a third time.”



Ponte said there was no question that the person who threw the acid was Collins, who at the time was wearing a T-shirt with the word “Killer” on it. He did not dispute it, which was not surprising as his actions were captured clearly on the club’s CCTV, Ponte said.

Collins was assisted “by his good friend” Phoenix, the court was told. “The crown’s case is that these two friends came to the club together, armed with acid together, they stayed together, got drunk together, got in a fight together, threw it together, stayed around together and finally left together,” the prosecutor said.



The two had arrived at the club at 9pm. The jury watched CCTV footage that showed Collins throwing a liquid towards one man on the dance floor at about 1am. Several people were injured, with varying degrees of severity, including Phoenix, who was splashed with the substance, which had a PH level of 1, Ponte said.



After the incident, Collins asked someone to “take a picture of my mate’s face”. The photo showed marking from the acid splash.



Questioning Collins’ motive for this, Ponte said: “It might be useful to Mr Collins to have a photo of his friend looking like he was a victim rather than an attacker. This was before he had seen the CCTV.”



Phoenix was arrested on 21 April. Collins initially could not be found, but he was arrested a few days later at an unfurnished property in Northamptonshire by police who forced entry.

The jury heard that Collins jumped out of a first-floor window in a T-shirt and underwear before being shot with a stun gun.



A week before the acid attack, Collins had sent a message to his sister saying: “Tell mum to mind that little hand wash in my car acid,” the court was told.

Jurors were told Collins allegedly heard one of the men injured by the acid, Makai Brown, talking to friends about spiking a women’s drink. Collins’s case is he challenged Brown saying: ‘You are dickheads, you are not spiking anyone,” and that Brown then threatened to spike him.

George Carter-Stephenson QC, for Collins, asked Brown if Collins had then taken a bottle from him, “a bottle which he thought contained something to spike drinks”.

Brown denied having a bottle with him, explaining he does not drink alcohol and had been searched on entry to the club. He also denied having any conservation about spiking someone’s drink. He denied any altercation taking place, or any aggression, stating the first time he saw Collins was on the news.

The case continues.



• This article was amended on 11 October 2017. An earlier version referred incorrectly to the Wringler and Mangle, a nearby restaurant in Dalston. That should have said the Mangle nightclub.

