This is the terrifying moment a teenage girl was sprayed in the face with ammonia and bleach after she refused to let two strangers into her flat.
Shannelle Farrier was left in excruciating pain and fearing she would be left blind when David Nicholson squirted the substance at her following a night out in Newcastle.
The 19-year-old, who passed out from the pain and had to have her eyes washed out with litres of water, said she thought she was ‘going to die’.
The teen was left grateful her injuries were not worse, but she has since struggled with her mental health and was left feeling so fearful in her own home she had to move back in with her mother.
But Ms Farrier was left furious after finding out her 21-year-old attacker was spared prison after being given a suspended sentence after pleading guilty to assault.
Shannelle Farrier was left fearful she would lose her eyesight after being sprayed in the face with ammonia and bleach
CCTV captured the moment David Nicholson sprayed the substance from a Fairy liquid bottle at her
CCTV footage captured the moment Nicholson took aim at Ms Farrier after she told him she didn’t want him in her flat, squirting the powerful substance out of a Fairy liquid bottle.
Ms Farrier told the Sun: ‘I felt burning in my eyes and my mouth. I was screaming in pain yelling that something was in my eyes.
‘I honestly thought that I was going to die and screaming out for help.
‘It was instant, I didn’t know what was happening. They did it without rhyme or reason.’
The smell of the bleach was so strong that ambulance workers had to turn up in protective masks and Ms Farrier had to be taken into a shower to wash away the substance before being taken to hospital.
From there she spent five hours being treated by medics who desperately tried to get the pH level of her eyes down to a normal reading.
When she returned home she was left fearful that Nicholson might return and she was forced to move back in with her mother and unable to continue her college course as she was too nervous to be outside.
Despite the physical and mental anguish the attack has left on her, it has been revealed that Nicholson was spared prison after being given a suspended sentence.
She told the Sun that Nicholson would have targeted ‘someone else’ if he hadn’t attacked her, adding: ‘He was willing to harm someone.’
But she’s not letting the attack hold her back, with Ms Farrier moving out of the area and starting a new job in the next month to ‘start my new life’.
David Nicholson (pictured) was spared prison after pleading guilty to assault following the attack
In her victim impact statement, which was read out at court, Ms Farrier said: ‘The incident came about for no reason whatsoever, it was a totally unprovoked attack by two males who don’t even know me who think they can attack a female just because I didn’t want them in my flat.’
‘It’s not left me with a physical scar but it’s left me with an emotional one. I feel lucky I’ve not lost my vision or required plastic surgery as a result of this severe attack.’
Following this Nicholson, 21, of Hauxley Drive, Newcastle, was sentenced to 20 months suspended for two years with rehabilitation, an alcohol abstinence monitoring requirement and he was given a five-year restraining order.
The Newcastle Chronicle reports Judge Gavin Doig as saying: ‘You attracted her attention, she came to the door and you squirted her in the face with something -she believed to be ammonia. It resulted in excruciating burning and pain for her. You did that to her twice.
‘It’s incredibly fortunate for her and for you that the injuries were not more serious. She was taken to hospital and her eyes were washed out with several litres of water until the PH level dropped to a more normal level.
‘I’ve seen pictures of the reddening to her eyes. It’s an extremely serious offence.’
Brian Hegarty, defending, said: ‘He wishes to apologise to the complainant for this offence. It was not premeditated.’
A second man who handed Nicholson the bottle was sentenced at an earlier hearing,