A victim whose car was stolen from him after thieves squirted a chemical liquid into his eyes is appealing for help to find the men responsible.
Alif Hussain, 26, had stopped at the Beckton roundabout traffic lights at about 6pm on April 15 when a man jumped out of a nearby vehicle and sprayed a clear liquid through his open window, hitting him in the face and eye.
In the Recorder’s exclusive video of the assault, filmed by a passenger in a nearby car, Mr Hussain is seen rushing out of the driver’s door of his Audi A6 with his hands raised to his face in order to escape his attacker.
A second man is then seen running around to the passenger door where Mr Hussain’s 24-year-old friend, who asked not to be named, was sitting.
Though this encounter cannot be seen on the video, Mr Hussain claims the man sprayed the same chemical fluid over his friend before dragging her out of the car and making off with his car.
A spokesman for the Met said the attack, at the junction of the A406 and the A13, followed an earlier incident along the A406 in Ilford when Mr Hussain was “cut up” by two men driving a Black Ford C-max car which was followed by a verbal exchange.
Mr Hussain said: “As soon as I stopped [at the lights], the same car which undertook me blocked me off. Two guys got out of the car and squirted some sort of chemical fluid through my driver window.
“I quickly opened the door as my eyes were burning. I ran to the pavement and he was still squirting the liquid and saying ‘I will kill you’.”
“Meanwhile while I was out of the car screaming for help someone else went to my passenger and squirted the fluid on her and dragged her out of the car.”
Following the assault, Mr Hussain was helped by a witness who gave him water for his injury. Both he and his passenger where then taken to the Royal London Hospital for treatment.
He said he was left in “unbearable and burning pain” from the attack, adding: “I can’t leave my house during the day anymore because I can’t have contact with the sun.
“The doctor said it could take anything between a few weeks and months for my eye to heal. The liquid went straight through my glasses.”
Mr Hussain’s car was recovered in East Ham two days after the assault. No arrests have been made though enquiries continue.
The first suspect is described as a white male, aged about 25-years-old wearing a white t-shirt and beige shorts. The second suspect is also described as a white male, aged 25-years-old wearing a white t-shirt and blue jeans.
Anyone with information should contact Newham Police on 101 or call Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.
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