Britain’s Second City: Moped ‘Acid Attack’ Follows Weekend of ‘Unprecedented Violence’

Police officers and security stand outside the perimetre around the International Conventi
ADRIAN DENNIS/AFP/Getty
Virginia Hale

A 47-year-old woman suffered an ‘acid attack’ by a passing bike rider in Ladywood, Birmingham, on Tuesday after Britain’s diverse second city saw “unprecedented violence” over the weekend.

West Midlands Police say an individual riding a moped or pushbike threw a corrosive substance on the woman at 10 am and then fled.

After the attack, which police believe was targeted, the woman called for an ambulance after reaching the nearby town of Smethwick, where she was rushed to a specialist burns unit with serious injuries, reports The Mirror.

A resident of Northbrook Street, where the incident took place, said: “I heard a woman screaming. At first I thought it was a dog that had been hit by a car because it sound[ed] like something howling in pain.

“It was so loud but I didn’t see anything. Since finding out it was a woman who was hit with acid makes me really nervous about living here.

“These kind of evil things are on the increase around here. It’s worrying.”

The attack followed what local media described as a “brutal weekend” of “unprecedented violence” in Birmingham and the Black Country, with people shot at, stabbed, held up at gunpoint, hacked with machetes, and smashed in the head with poles.

Despite Britain having what the BBC boasts are “some of the toughest gun laws in the world”, police and emergency services dealt with a number of firearm-related incidents over the weekend in the city including the fatal shooting of 24-year-old Dwaine Haughton, who was gunned down in Park village at 9 pm Friday.

On Saturday afternoon, a gunman stormed a betting shop and threatened to shoot staff before making off with a bag of cash in an incident which the Birmingham Mail said follows two armed robberies which took place in Erdington last week just a mile apart.

Then, on Sunday, armed officers closed off one of the city’s main roads after bullets were fired at a house from a passing vehicle at 2.40 pm.

The weekend also saw a number of knife crimes, with one man suffering severe stab wounds after a knife attack at 2.30pm in Kingstanding, while at just after 7 pm in Yardley, a policeman was injured when he tackled a man brandishing a machete on a busy street.

On Sunday evening, two men were taken to hospital with serious injuries after individuals emerged from a vehicle in the Brierley Hill area to slash at them with machetes.

The victims “were walking along the High Street, when an argument started between them and two people in a car,” according to police, who on Monday said: “Both men suffered serious injuries when they were attacked with machetes and remain in hospital tonight.”

Meanwhile in the inner-city suburb of Alum Rock, where racist graffiti including the message “no whites allowed” appeared last year, concerned shoppers reported seeing “carnage” and “blood everywhere” after a brawl broke out at a bridal boutique on Saturday afternoon.

Four people were taken to hospital — one of whom suffered a fractured eye socket — and subsequently arrested after violence broke out shortly before 6 pm inside Seher Boutique, where troublemakers “smashed [victims’] heads in with poles”, according to the Birmingham Mail.

“I don’t know what’s going on in Birmingham lately but it’s not good. It’s all going downhill,” said one witness, who reported seeing a woman “who had blood seeping from her head” led away from the scene by police officers.

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