11 July 2017•Update: 11 July 2017
By Ahmet Gurhan Kartal
LONDON
A suspect who has been in custody in connection with an acid attack on two Muslim cousins in east London three weeks ago is scheduled to appear in court on Tuesday.
John Tomlin was charged with two counts of grievous bodily harm on Monday following his arrest the previous day, a police statement said.
On June 21, Jameel Mukhtar, 37, was in a car with his cousin, Resham Khan, who was celebrating her 21st birthday, when they were sprayed with a corrosive substance.
Police appealed for information about Tomlin’s whereabouts following the attack in which “both victims received life-changing injuries”.
John Tomlin, 24, “handed himself into an east London police station and was arrested on suspicion of grievous bodily harm with intent”, the statement said.
In an interview with broadcaster Channel 4, Mukhtar described the acid attack as an “Islamophobic hate crime”.
“I believe it was something to do with Islamophobia or maybe he’s got it in for Muslims because of what’s been going on lately,” he said.
Anti-Muslim attacks in the U.K. have skyrocketed following deadly terror attacks in recent weeks in Manchester and London, according to official figures.
