Katie Piper’s acid attacker may have fled country two months ago as police hunt ‘face of pure evil’
Scotland Yard have warned the public not to approach Stefan Sylvestre if they see him
Police hunting the man who threw acid over television presenter Katie Piper believe he may have left the country more than two months ago.
Officers are searching for Stefan Sylvestre, 34, after he was recalled to jail for breaching his licence conditions, and say “inquiries undertaken so far indicate” he left the UK on 2 August.
Scotland Yard, which was notified on 23 September that Sylvestre had been recalled, say he should not be approached. His last known address was in north London.
Sylvestre attacked Ms Piper in Golders Green, north London, in 2008 on the order of her former boyfriend Daniel Lynch. At the time of the attack, Sylvestre was 19 and a year later he was sentenced to life with a minimum of six years behind bars.
He was given a life sentence in 2009 for the attack and was told he must serve a minimum of six years before he would be eligible for parole. He was released in 2018.
Ms Piper and Lynch had dated briefly before steroid-fuelled martial arts fan Lynch, who had a previous conviction for pouring boiling water over a man, became obsessively jealous.
Lynch was jailed for life with a minimum of 16 years and won’t be considered for release until 2025. Sylvestre first became eligible for parole in 2015 but his application was denied after he was deemed unfit for release.
In court, Lynch and Sylvestre were told by Judge Nicholas Browne KC they were “the face of pure evil”
Another application was made in 2018 which was successful and he was freed on the condition he stayed away from Ms Piper.
Ms Piper’s injuries required 400 operations to treat her burns. She said in her victim impact statement: “When the acid was thrown at me, it felt like I was burning in hell. It was an indescribable, unique, torturous pain.
“I have lost my future, my career, my spirit, my body, my looks, my dignity… the list goes on.
“All I am left with is an empty shell. A part of me has died that will never come back. This is worse than death.”
Ms Piper was a contestant on Strictly Come Dancing in 2018 when she learned Sylvestre was to be released.
At the time, the presenter said: “This is a really difficult time for me. I am trying to come to terms with the decision and this is something I need to deal with.
“Over the past two weeks Strictly has already given me such a welcome and positive distraction from my past.
“Whilst there is never a good time to hear this news, I am glad I have this new journey to concentrate on.”
Officers from the Metropolitan Police’s specialist crime command are now trying to locate and arrest Sylvestre. They are asking anyone who has information on his whereabouts to get in touch.
A Probation Service spokeswoman said on Sunday: “We are urgently working with the police to bring the offender back to prison where he’ll face longer behind bars.”