A 'devastating' and 'excruciating' crime is on the rise in Greater Manchester - and campaigners are worried

manchestereveningnews.co.uk:

A huge rise in acid attacks recorded by Greater Manchester Police has been revealed by a campaigning charity. According to data published today (19 October) from Acid Survivors Trust International (ASTI), GMP recorded six incidents in 2021, with the figure for 2022 more than doubling to 19.

The charity said its statistics are based on requests under the Freedom of Information Act sent out to all police forces, but stressed that a number of police forces included threats of acid attacks and assaults without injury in the figures for last year, which are the latest available.

The charity - which is launching a new national awareness campaign - defined acid attacks as a form of violent assault involving the act of throwing acid, or a similarly corrosive substance, onto someone's person with the intention to harm or kill. READ MORE: 'I'm a teenage girl who should be able to go out without a care in the world', victim tells 'dangerous' criminal READ MORE: Uncomfortable but necessary, one of the darkest days in Manchester's history is swiftly brought to a close The charity said the data showed a 57 per cent rise in the number of attacks in the North West region in 2022, compared to 2021.

The Manchester Evening News reported this year on the brutal murder in Wigan of dad-of-two and former soldier Liam Smith. Drug dealer Michael Hillier shot Mr Smith yards from his home before dousing his body in sulphuric acid.