Acid attack victim reveals assailant thought he was someone else

Businessman Andreas Christopheros says he was the victim in a case of mistaken identity

Andreas Christopheros describes his attack (ITV/YouTube)

A man left severly disfigured after a brutal acid attack has said his assailant believed he was someone else.

David Phillips, 49, of Hastings, threw a container of battery acid in the face of Andreas Christopheros, 30, as he opened his front door of his home in Cornwall.

Phillips thought Mr Christopheros had sexually assaulted someone he knew, but it turned out to be a case of mistaken identity.

“I opened the door as you would normally then, one motion, bang, 'This is for you, mate',” Mr Christopheros told ITV’s This Morning.

“The pain was inexplicable. It's nothing like I have ever felt. You can't even comprehend but I knew straight away that it was acid. My T-shirt dissolved. It was like a waistcoat. There was no doubt in my mind.”

Mr Christopheros was in a coma for four days and was left blind and facially disfigured from the incident. He must still undergo multiple operations.

However, his suffering was not restricted to his injuries following the December 2014 attack. He also had to endure a police investigation into his life after Phillips gave his account of events.

Mr Christopheros said: “It's happened. What's happened, has happened and nothing is going to change that.

"You deal with what is in front of you and you move on. I've lost a year of my life at the age of 30. It's significant. I'm not going to lose any more time. Time is precious for me."

Phillips handed a life sentence, and told he must serve a minimum of seven years and 68 days.