Callum Jones
An acid attack victim who was left permanently scarred following the unprovoked incident has detailed the chilling five-words uttered by a stranger during the attack.
Andreas Christopheros was also left blind in his left eye after he answered the door to a stranger in December 2014 at his home in Truro, Cornwall, UK.
David Phillips had driven 300 miles from Sussex to Andreas' home to carry out the attack as he believed the man from Cornwall had assaulted a member of his family. However, it was a case of mistaken identity.
Phillips poured sulphuric acid on Andreas' face when he opened the door, before the attack ran away.
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The suspect was jailed for life in October 2015 after admitting to assault causing grievous bodily harm with intent, but following an appeal, judges imposed a 16-year term in 2016.
A successful appeal for parole lead to Phillips spending just five years behind bars for the crime.
Andreas sat down with LADbible Stories recently to recall the horrific attack.
He said: "On the day of the attack, I was working from home, my office looks out onto the road of an 80s cul-de-sac and you can see everything. You know what cars should be there and shouldn't. I look out the window around quarter to 4 and I see this red van coming down the road. I clocked the van because it was the same model and color of one of the vans that one of our staff uses for work."
Andreas quickly realized the van was not one of his and thought nothing of it until he received a knock on the door.
"As I answered the front door, I instantly received a pint of sulphuric acid to the face," he added.
Andreas revealed that Phillips stated 'This is for you mate' as he threw the acid towards his face.
He recalled: "I knew it was acid straight away, which was probably the first saving grace. My t-shirt was just disintegrated and just rolled into nothing."
After running around the house in a lot of pain, an ambulance eventually turned up and Andreas was transported to hospital.
He described the pain as like 'having petrol with a match', before 'blacking out' on the driveway just after the police arrived.
Andreas's family were told to prepare for the worse after healthcare professionals struggled to get him stable.
Thankfully, Andreas is doing well these days but has faced multiple surgeries since the attack.