Story highlights Man jailed following attack in nightclub that injured 22 people

Lengthy sentence handed out; acid attacks are on the rise in the UK

(CNN) A man convicted of spraying acid in a crowded London nightclub injuring 22 people has been sentenced to 20 years in prison, the city's Metropolitan Police said.

Arthur Collins, 25, was convicted in November of five counts of wounding with intent to do grievous bodily harm and nine counts of assault occasioning actual bodily harm.

Sixteen people suffered serious burns as a result of the incident, which police said resulted from a dance floor argument at the Mangle nightclub in the London borough of Hackney, in April.

"Collins went to the nightclub that night with a bottle of a noxious substance with the intent to use it to inflict serious harm. He indiscriminately and recklessly sprayed the substance in a crowded place, knowing full well the danger this would pose to a large number of people," said Hackney Borough commander, Detective Chief Superintendent Simon Laurence.

"This was a barbaric and cowardly act."

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