Converted: Vikki
Horsman, 19, who converted to Islam for 80-year-old Mohammed Rafiq, had
acid thrown in her face after he allegedly arranged for the liquid to
be hurled over her as she answered the door. She is pictured left after
converting, and right arriving at court today, where the scars on her
neck could be seen
Miss
Horsman today told Wolverhampton Crown Court that she had 'peeked
around the corner of the porch door' to a hooded male caller wearing a
bandana across his face who then threw the liquid directly at her on
April 15 this year.
Speaking
at the trial of Rafiq and two other men accused of carrying out the
attack, she described how she was left 'screaming' as the acid hit her,
and had glimpsed her blistering face and neck as she stumbled back into
the house, hurriedly dousing herself with cold water from the kitchen
tap.
Earlier,
she had described the breakdown of her relationship with Rafiq, more
than 60 times her senior, who she had been sleeping since she was 18.
Rafiq, whom she had known six years, had bought her a car, but became increasingly 'very controlling' she told the court.
'He often accused me of cheating on him,' she said.
Miss
Horsman, who now suffers 'terrible' scarring across her face and neck,
met Rafiq in 2010 through a friend, shortly after her mother, father and
grandmother died within a short period of time.
Co-defendants:
Steven Holmes, 25, (left) is accused of throwing the acid, and Shannon
Heaps, 22, (right) is also accused of planning the vicious assault
Attack: Miss Horsman had the black
oil-like liquid hurled over her head and neck when she answered the door
of a friend's house in Tividale, West Midlands, on April 15
Accused: Rafiq, who was also in the
house at the time, is accused of planning the vicious assault along with
Steven Holmes, 25, and 22-year-old Shannon Heaps
'Plot': The court was told that Rafiq
had answered the door, then called Miss Horsman to come downstairs to
the front door telling her that there was a man there for her
She
told the jury of seven women and five men how she had 'pressure put on
me' from Rafiq to convert to Islam, and change her name to Aleena Rafiq
in November 2013.
The
nursing home carer - who has since changed her name back - ended the
relationship a month later at Christmas because Rafiq was becoming 'too
controlling'.
But the pensioner continued to see the teenager as a friend and started to treat her 'like a daughter' instead, a jury was told.
Anthony Warner, prosecuting, asked Miss Horsman if had converted to Islam willingly, and she replied 'not particularly'.
The
change meant only eating halal food, adopting Muslim prayers and
changing the way she dressed as she chose to wear a headscarf.
However,
the accusations of cheating continued and after matters came to a head
in early 2014 when Rafiq went through her personal belongings, she
decided to end their relationship.
Asked by Mr Warner how the older man had taken the news, she said: 'He got very angry.
'He still thought we were in a relationship even though I had ended things.'
Rafiq
is alleged to have arranged for a lone man to turn up to her friend,
Kerry Stevens' house to carry out the horrific attack on Miss Horsman,
who was 19 at the time.
Dedication:
Miss Horsman converted to Rafiq's religion, choosing to wear the
headscarf, and changed her name to Aleena Rafiq in November last year,
the court was told
Break up: The nursing home carer - who
has since changed her name back - ended the relationship a month later
at Christmas because Rafiq was becoming 'too controlling'
Describing
the attack, he said that Rafiq had been with her at the house,
dog-sitting, where she was going to get some sleep before starting her
nightshift at work.
She was removing her contact lenses in the upstairs bathroom, when she heard 'a knock at the door and muffled voices'.
Rafiq
told her it was 'a man for you', she said, but as she opened the front
door she was confronted by a man 'in a grey hoodie, a bandana over his
face, and his hood up'.
'I
went out into the porch and shut the door behind me,' she said. 'I
looked outside and that was when I saw the gentleman standing there.
'He was stood to the left as you look out. He had a bandana over his face and a hood, so I could only see his eyes.
'He asked if I was Vikki, I said yes and that was when the substance was thrown over me. I felt a burning in my face and lips.
'I ran to the mirror to see what was happening.
'Then I ran to the kitchen, and splashed water over my face to try and get rid of it.
'I tried to call an ambulance but they couldn't understand what I was saying, I was just screaming.
'I asked Mohammed to call them and give them the address. I can't remember him doing anyone else.
'I was splashing water on my face. Mohammed gave me a bottle of water as I could feel it burning inside my mouth.'
Injuries: Miss Horsman was taken to
intensive care, where she was treated for deep areas of burning to the
chest, upper neck and left upper arm
Prompted
by questions about her recollections, Miss Horsman told the jury she
had been placed under sedation in intensive care for five days following
the attack, and also underwent surgery.
She
described the moment the acid splashed her as 'just instant burning -
piercing pain', affecting her face, neck, ears and shoulder.
Miss
Horsman added that Spike, the dog that lived at the house, had also
suffered burn injuries but had escaped relatively unscathed.
She said: 'He had a few little burns here and there, but I managed to keep him out of the worst of it.'
Rafiq's
QC, Anthony Berry, asked Miss Horsman if she could remember where his
client had been immediately before the moment she suffered what he
called the 'hideous and frightening injury'.
'I
suggest that at the point when you came down the stairs, although he
may have been sat when you first came in, he was then at the bottom of
the stairs and to your right,' he added.
But she replied: 'No, I can remember him sat.'
Terror: Miss Horsman described the
moment the acid splashed her as 'just instant burning - piercing pain',
affecting her face, neck, ears and shoulder
Later
Mr Berry put it to the victim that Rafiq had been standing with her in
the porch just before she opened the door to the attacker.
But Miss Horsman again said: 'No, I remember opening the door myself.'
Mr
Berry then asked Miss Horsman about her health when she had made her
statement to police, just eight days after the attack and having only
just come out of sedation.
She replied: 'I was not feeling too good. I was in a lot of pain.'
Mr Berry described that as 'an admirable understatement'.
Later,
when she was re-examined by Mr Warner, she said she remembered seeing
Rafiq 'standing by the living room window' as she reeled away from the
attack.
The
Crown says Rafiq, of Smethwick, West Midlands, became unhappy with Miss
Horsman’s increasing independence and increasingly 'obsessed' with her
movements, even going through her personal possessions.
Rafiq,
who was also in the house at the time of the attack, is accused of
planning the vicious assault along with Steven Holmes, 25, and
22-year-old Shannon Heaps.
Opening
the case against the trio - who are all accused of inflicting GBH with
intent - yesterday, Mr Warner said it was Holmes who had thrown the
sulphuric acid.
He
said when Rafiq answered the front door of the house the called Miss
Horsman to come downstairs to the front door telling her that there was a
man there for her.
'The
caller to the address was in fact Steven Holmes. Vikki was not
expecting any callers that afternoon, unlike Mohammed Rafiq who
certainly was.
'She
went to the front bedroom window because she wasn't expecting anybody
but the porch was in the way. She could see that the front door was just
open and there was a man when she opened the door, Steven Holmes.
'He
held out to her a green carrier bag, she went to take hold of it but
when she went to take hold of it he didn't let go and then a black
liquid was thrown over her.
'It
hit her face, her neck, and she screamed out loud and felt a terrible
burning pain and saw her face and neck was blistering by looking in the
mirror.
He
added: 'Rafiq may not have bargained for the fact that in her terror
some of the black liquid would be transferred to him but it was and he
himself received some injuries.'
The
pensioner, from Smethwick, West Midlands, met with the two other
defendents shortly before the attack and soon after, the court heard.
On the afternoon following, he picked up Holmes, also from Smethwick, in his Audi TT.
Treatment: Miss Horsman will require
intensive scar management and occupational therapy for years and
possibly further surgery, the court heard
Two
friends who witnessed them together said they later saw Heaps pass
Holmes a green carrier bag containing a bottle before Rafiq drove off
leaving the four men alone.
Mr Warner added: 'Fortunately the paramedics and ambulance did arrive quite quickly.
'She
(Miss Horsman) was taken to the Queen Elizabeth Hospital and she was
taken immediately to theatre for cleaning and dressing of wounds.
'She
was taken to intensive care, the dressing was removed the next day
revealing deep areas of burning to the chest, upper neck and left upper
arm.
Miss Horseman spent days there and was on a ventilator at one stage.
She was taken to theatre again on April 22 for the first application of skin grafts taken from her right thigh.
She will require intensive scar management and occupational therapy for years and possibly further surgery.
Rafiq,
Holmes and Heaps all deny one charge of inflicting GBH with intent and
Rafiq also denies a further charge of perverting the course of justice.
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