Acid attack victim: “Incompetent police accused me of burning myself to be like Katie Piper”

Naomi Oni, who suffered severe burns when jealous friend Mary Konye threw acid in her face, has tearfully revealed that police accused her of "doing it herself" to be like Katie Piper

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by Kayleigh Dray |
Published on

Naomi Oni, 22, was left scarred in the horrifying acid attack - but it seems as if the physical scars are nothing compared to the mental anguish she has been put through following the assault.

And now she has tearfully told BBC's Today programme that police had been slow to act on information she gave them about the 2012 attack.

Speaking to Today's Mishal Husain, Naomi - who broke down into tears during the interview - said it almost felt like she had "been accused of lying" after her then-friend attacked her in Dagenham, East London.

She said police had been incompetent "to kind of accuse me of doing it to myself, when I've said somebody has followed me from my workplace to my home."

Naomi released photos of herself after the attack
Naomi released photos of herself after the attack

"All I've done is receive pain and backlash, and pain and backlash, for other people's actions - for her actions - and other people's incompetence.

"The police, to kind of accuse me of doing it myself, when I said someone had followed me from my workplace to my home.

"I even got told that they watched the CCTV footage and they saw no-one following me. We've all seen the CCTV footage. There was a person in a veil following me.

"Why was this not found in the beginning? Nobody has answers to tell me."

It was argued in court that Naomi was trying to find fame and fortune following a similar incident in which model and TV presenter Katie Piper was partially blinded.

CCTV footage of the attack

But the emotional victim told the BBC that this couldn't be further from the truth: "I wasn't interested in the aftermath.

"I was interested in what happened to Katie Piper because it was a moving and touching story… when I watched her documentary, I was in shock.

"I don't see what that has to do with someone in a veil coming to attack me. My main aim was to let them know that someone had come to attack me."

In a heartbreaking moment for listeners, Naomi broke down into tears as she described her attacker as an "evil person", and recalled how Konye had been "jealous and obsessed" and had bullied her.

The two had been in contact before the attack and Konye even called her victim while she was in hospital, Ms Oni said.

Naomi Oni before the attack

She "couldn't eat for days" after being told who had attacked her, she added .

"I didn't want to believe it, it didn't make sense", she said.

But she added that her friend had always been jealous and emotionally "abusive", saying: "Anything that made me happy she would try to take it away. My friends, my boyfriends… the things that she does means a lot to me and it's just been constant throughout the ten years.

"She's just a very evil, evil, evil person. people like her should not exist and should not be allowed to have a voice.

"No one should have to come out and say the reason she did it is because we had an argument… she's a big bully that has no remorse and all she's ever done throughout our friendship is continually bully me."

Naomi has been working hard to rebuild her life after the attack

"It's abuse and I just want people to understand that I've been in an abusive friendship.

"Stop abusing me even further. It isn't fair. It isn't fair on me."

Ms Oni needed skin grafts and has suffered permanent scars to her leg, chest, stomach and arms and was almost blinded in one eye.

She has to wear a face mask and faces further reconstructive surgery.

She said she had been left feeling "isolated" and "alone" since the attack.

"My life isn't so normal at the moment," she added.

The Metropolitan Police said in a statement: "All lines of enquiry were considered in the early stages of the investigation.

"The investigation was detailed and complex and officers had a duty to explore every avenue of enquiry and retain an open mind about the circumstances.

"They carried out numerous actions including door-to-door enquiries, leaflet drops, searches, interviews and forensic analyses."

Do you think the police were, as Naomi says, "incompetent" in this case? Or were they simply pursuing every line of inquiry? Let us know your thoughts in the Comments Box below now.

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