Arthur Collins WINKED at his family as he was sentenced to prison for 20 years

Arthur Collins

by Emma Dodds |
Updated on

Ferne McCann's ex-boyfriend Arthur Collins has been sentenced to 20 years in prison for an acid attack in April that injured 22 people and left 14 people with serious burns.

Collins, 25, whose ex-girlfriend Ferne gave birth to his baby last month, was sentenced to a 20-year jail term at Wood Green Crown Court in London.

He was also handed an extended licence of five years, taking his total time to a quarter of a century.

But Collins did not seem to be sorry for what he had done, even reportedly WINKING at his family as he was taken away.

GALLERY: Celebrity women who found love with lawbreakers

Gallery

11 celebrity women guilty of finding love with lawbreakers (Slider)

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CREDIT: instagram

Ferne McCann and Arthur Collins

Ferne might be one of our TOWIE favourites, but the gorgeous Essex girl has been very unlucky in love. Her relationship with Charlie Sims played out spectacularly while she was on TOWIE, and during her time on Celebs Go Dating she never met anyone who she was interested in.However, just days after publically talking about her plans to marry her now-boyfriend Arthur Collins, the police have issued an appeal to find him in connection to an acid attack at a club in London over the bank holiday weekend.

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CREDIT: instagram

Gemma Collins and Stephen Mortimer

Gemma and Stephen had an on-and-off relationship. He spent two years in prison for grievous bodily harm, and during Gemma's stint in Celebrity Big Brother in 2016, he was back in prison for allegedly breaching his license terms.When she left the house, she also had to face rumours that he had cheated on her numerous times.

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CREDIT: getty

Kerry Katona and George Kay

Kerry and George have had a tumultuous relationship, and although they called it quits in 2015, the couple decided to rekindle their relationship in August 2016.However, during the time of their marriage breakdown George was allegedly detained for assault and unlawful possession of a taser. He also previously served a three-year prison sentence for blackmail.

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CREDIT: getty

Mel B and Stephen Belafonte

Earlier this year, Mel B filed for divorce from her husband of ten years, Stephen Belafonte. The couple share 5-year-old daughter, Madison, but in the leaked papers Mel cites irreconcilable differences as grounds for divorce.Since then, it has come to light that Mel made many allegations against the film producer, including that he was reportedly physically and verbally abusive throughout their marriage.

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CREDIT: twitter

Lauren Goodger and Joey Morrison

Lauren has received a lot of bad press about the men she has dated. When she first appeared on TOWIE, she had been dating Mark Wright for the best part of eight years before they went their separate ways.Lauren then went on to date Jake McLean for four years, but now she is seeing Joey Morrison. He's a friend of a friend who is currently serving time in prison for violent drugs-related charges, and he is expected to be released later this year.

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CREDIT: instagram

Steph Davis and Jeremy McConnell

Steph and Jeremy had an on-off relationship for the best part of 2016 after meeting in the Celebrity Big Brother house.When Steph announced she was pregnant, Jeremy refused to believe he was the father and throughout the pregnancy she was determined to raise her baby on her own.However, when Caben-Albi was born Jeremy stepped up and appeared to be trying to make up for lost time. The couple reunited, but shortly afterwards reports swirled that Jeremy had been arrested on suspicion of assault.Before the news broke, Steph had shared a picture of her bruised body on Snapchat, prompting fans to believe she may have been the victim. Jeremy denied any wrongdoing and is now in rehab dealing with his demons. Steph has confirmed she'll be there for him when he gets out.

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CREDIT: twitter

Daniella Westbrook and Tom Richards

Daniella and Tom dated cage fighter Tom Richards, and they even got engaged before the relationship broke down in 2015.Following their break-up, Daniella claimed that Tom had violently attacked her although the charges were eventually dropped.

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CREDIT: tv

Chantelle Houghton and Alex Reid

Chantelle was engaged to Katie Price's ex, Alex Reid, and the former couple share 4-year-old daughter, Dolly.But just weeks after Chantelle gave birth, cage fighter Alex was arrested on suspicion of causing criminal damage to the couple's Brentwood home and the pair split shortly after.

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CREDIT: getty

Katie Price and Leandro Penna

Katie and Leandro met at an Oscars party in 2011 and started dating soon after, even getting engaged for six months before the relationship ended.Although he appeared to have a squeaky clean image, in 2013 Leandro was accused of assault after a disagreement at a party in London hinting that Katie's ex was more of a bad boy than anyone initially thought.

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CREDIT: instagram

Amy Childs and Bradley Wright

Amy is expecting her first child with boyfriend, Bradley Wright. He already has a daughter from a previous relationship, but Amy has been with him for two years now.Bradley has previously spent time in prison serving sentences for burglary, handling stolen goods and driving offences.

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CREDIT: twitter

Cara Kilby and Daniel Harris

Cara Kilby only had a brief stint on TOWIE, but she was a firm favourite with viewers.Her boyfriend, Daniel, was sentenced to two years in prison after being accussed of leading a gang that sold drugs across London. He is due for release in the next few weeks.

Judge Noel Lucas QC called Collins a "calculating liar", and said he hadn't shown the "slightest remorse" after carrying out the "deliberate and calculated attack".

After entering a not guilty plea, Collins was found guilty of five counts of causing GBH with intent and nine counts of assault occasioning ABH, relating to 14 revellers.

Judge Lucas said: "Your case has attracted a great deal of public interest. This is because what you did at the Mangle club on Easter Sunday evening was a despicable act.

"The conclusion I have come to is that you deliberately carried strong acid into that club to use when the need arised. The CCTV showed the wholly cowardly nature of the attack.

"Mr Collins' contrived defence is in my judgment significant. It shows him to be an accomplished and calculating liar."

WATCH: CCTV footage of Arthur Collins throwing acid in a club in Hackney on April Bank Holiday weekend

Referring to an apology written in a letter by Collins, Judge Lucas said: "It was a hollow sorry - not for what he had done, but for the effect of his actions.

"He has expressed not the least remorse for carrying and using a highly corrosive acid.

"The injuries must have been extremely painful and utterly terrifying."

The judge rejected a life sentence for Collins, saying that although it was an "utterly despicable and life-changing" attack, "no-one was blinded permanently and life itself was not in danger" - but conceded that an extended sentence was "necessary".

Judge Lucas continued: "Having thrown acid in the darkness of that club, you slunk away into the rear where you hid and pretended to be unconnected to the mayhem you caused.

"While making much of the harsh circumstances of your arrest, you have demonstrated not the least remorse."

Ferne McCann
©Instagram/ Ferne McCann

Victim Lauren Trent spoke to the court of the horror she experienced, saying: "It was 1.45am in the morning, that's the time my parents received a phone call from me.

"Imagine that phone call was your daughter on her 22nd birthday, and you were stuck two hours away in your home town.

"She tells you her skin is coming off in her hands from her neck. All she can see in the bathroom is people screaming."

Fighting back tears, she then directly addressed Collins, who couldn't bring himself to look at her as she said: "I was celebrating my birthday that night when you threw acid across the dance floor.

"Forever my birthday will be the anniversary of the night I was involved in an acid attack. A place I should have been safe, and a place where hundreds of innocent people were that night.

"You changed not only my life, my best friend's life, my family, my friends and your life."

Another victim, Sophie Hall, spoke outside the court after the sentence had been passed, saying: "After the result today, I do feel like justice has been served. The last eight, nine months of our lives have been hell.

"Arthur didn't show any signs of remorse in court. The scars I have been left with are something I am going to have look at every time I look in the mirror."

**Have you been following Collins' trial? Let us know over on **Facebook and Twitter.

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