Sussex man pleads guilty to acid attack

Property developer Andreas Christopheros, 29, suffered a permanent loss of vision and horrific burns when David Phillips flung the corrosive material in his face.

Phillips, 48, attacked Andreas on his own doorstep in Truro, Cornwall, after travelling more than 300 miles from his own home in Barley Lane, Hastings, East Sussex.

But police said he was not the intended victim, describing it outside court yesterday (Monday, September 28) as a revenge attack on the wrong man that was ‘ill-prepared and ill executed’.

Mr Christopheros appeared in public or the first time since the incident last December as Phillips admitted his guilt.

He wore sunglasses and a face shield.

Phillips had been due to stand trial for causing grievious bodily harm with intent, but he changed his plea to guilty on the first day of proceedings at Truro Crown Court.

Charges against Nicole Phillips, 45, of perverting the course of justice were then dropped by the prosecution.

Phillips plead guilty to unlawfully and maliciously causing GBH with intent to cause harm.

Prosecuting, Phillip Lee said: “The crown’s case has always been that Mr Christopheros was an innocent man who was targeted wrongly.

“The victim was left with very serious life chancing injuries.”

No further details about the incident that took place in Truro last December were given in court.

But after the hearing, DCI David Thorne, the lead officer in the case, said: “We believe it was a revenge attack and he did get the wrong person completely.

“He felt a member of his family had been seriously hurt.

“I am not going to go into detail about that incident but he felt aggrieved and thought he needed to take revenge against the person who had done it.

“But he got the wrong address and injured the wrong person.

“He thought he had the right address – but as it turns out he was in completely the wrong area.

“The whole thing was ill-prepared and ill-thought out.

“The end result is an innocent victim who has been left with serious life-changing injuries.”

Defending, Mohammed Bashir said: “There is underlying reasons why this offence occurred taking into account background and family life.

“It is essentially his first offence.”

Mr Christopheros had several business interests and helped organise the Run to the Sun event, an annual custom car and dance festival which attracts around 100,000 car fans to Newquay every summer.

The case was adjourned ahead of sentencing at Truro Crown Court on 9 October.

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