Man who threw acid in face of beautician, 22, claims he was forced into it by her ex

A man who says he was paid £500 to throw acid in a 22-year-old beautician's face has told a court he had feared for his life if he did not carry out the attack.

Victim: Adele Bellis had acid thrown in her face at a bus stop

Adele Bellis, then 22, lost an ear, is now partially bald and was left with "life-changing" permanent scarring following the attack at a bus stop in Lowestoft, Suffolk, on August 14 last year.

Her ex-boyfriend Anthony Riley denies organising the assault at Ipswich Crown Court.

Jason Harrison, 28, from Lowestoft, has already admitted throwing sulphuric acid in Miss Bellis's face.
Jurors have been told Riley recruited him as part of a campaign to "humiliate and control" his partner of nearly seven years.

Giving evidence, Harrison said he had been reluctant to go through with it, but Riley had become "increasingly impatient" - threatening to harm him, his girlfriend and family.

Explaining how Riley had promised to write off part of a debt from a cannabis deal if he carried out the attack, he added: "He told me I had to pay £10,000 or I was going to get seriously hurt.

"He threatened my girlfriend. He said he would cut her up if I didn't do what he wanted."

Harrison said Riley had shown him a picture of Miss Bellis on his phone. He told him where she lived and worked and gave him a coffee jar containing acid.

Over the following weeks, he "stalked" her but aborted two attempts to attack her.

But Riley became increasingly frustrated, on one occasion punching him in the face and threatening him by putting a knife in his mouth, Harrison said.

Harrison described how a few weeks before the attack Riley had demonstrated the strength of the acid by putting a live mouse in a jar filled with the liquid.

"He was laughing," he said.
 
Harrison said that after the attack he ran off and Riley later gave him £500 and promised to write off some of his debt.

He added: "I didn't want to do this attack. I'm not a violent person and I've never physically hurt anyone before.

"I honestly thought my life was in danger so I've done it.

"There has not been a day since that attack that I haven't thought about it."

Prosecutor Andrew Jackson earlier told the court that, before the acid attack, Riley arranged for co-defendant Leon Thompson, 39, to stab Miss Bellis in the face and posted a revenge porn sex video on Facebook in a bid to humiliate her.

Mr Jackson added: "After their relationship ended, Mr Riley became consumed with jealousy at the prospect of her becoming involved with another man. He decided to control her by disfiguring her."

Riley, 27, of Raglan Street, Lowestoft, denies false imprisonment, conspiracy to apply a corrosive liquid and conspiracy to cause grievous bodily harm with intent.

Thompson, 39, of Alma Road, Lowestoft, denies wounding with intent, having a knife in public, conspiracy to apply a corrosive liquid and conspiracy to cause grievous bodily harm with intent.

The trial continues.