Victim of Shoreditch acid attacker Derryck John calls for him to be given a tough sentence

Derryck John, 17, was jailed last week for six acid attacks and robberies in one night across east London and north London. Picture credit: Met Police (Image: MPS)

Food delivery rider Jabed Hussain, 32, believes he would have died without his helmet which got melted when Derryck John squirted acid at him when he stopped at traffic lights in Hackney Road.

Jabed was one of six riders attacked within 90 minutes by John on July 13 last year.

John, 17, who carried out the attacks in Shoreditch, Stratford, Clapton and Dalston, admitted six counts of throwing a corrosive liquid with intent to “disable, burn, maim, disfigure or cause grievous bodily harm”, two counts of robbery and four counts of attempted robbery at Wood Green Crown court on Monday.

The youth from Croydon, was 16 at the time of the attacks.

Reporting restrictions on naming him were lifted by judge Noel Lucas, who said: “There’s an overwhelming public interest in knowing the identity of the defendant and his age.”

Jabed wants the judge to come down hard on his attacker when he is sentenced.

The first attack was at Penny Brook Street in Stratford, but the victim who was splashed with a corrosive substance managed to ride off and elude the two youths on a Yamaha pursuing him.

Within an hour, Jabed was attacked on his way home to Spitalfields and acid was squirted at his face and his moped stolen.

Only his crash helmet which melted in the attack saved him from blindness.

“I am still frightened and always lock the car doors when I leave home,” Jabed told the Advertiser this week.

“I am scared I might be targeted as I now speak out against acid and knife crime.”

He was apprehensive following the court hearing when his attacker admitted 12 charges.

John will be sentenced on March 9.

“A tough sentence would make me happy — but it depends on the judge,” Jabed said.