Seven time nominated BEST BRITISH TRUE-CRIME PODCAST at the True Crime Awards, Independent Podcast Award and The British Podcast Awards, and voted 4th Best True-Crime Podcast by This Week, iTunes Top 25 Podcast, Podcast Magazine's Hot 50, The Telegraph's Top 5, Crime & Investigation Top 20 True-Crime Podcasts, also seen on BBC Radio, Sky News, The Guardian and TalkRadio's Podcast of the Week.
Woodchester Square, London, W2
EPISODE THREE HUNDRED AND FORTY-SIX: On Monday the 24th of September 2018, an unnamed couple parked-up outside of Princethorpe House in Woodchester Square in Paddington, W2. The man was kidnapped, driven across London, and then in an unspecified bathroom on Fulham Palace Road, he was tortured using acid. But how did acid become the weapon of choice for many London gangs? Find out on Murder Mile.
SOURCES: a selection sourced from various archives:
MUSIC:
UNEDITED TRANSCRIPT: How did acid become the weapon of choice for many London gangs? Find out on Murder Mile. Today, I’m standing on Woodchester Square in Paddington, W2; two streets west of the decapitated head of the alleged Algerian lover, two streets north of the second killing by London’s forgotten gay slayer, 100 yards from where Marta Ligman’s body was found in a suitcase floating in the canal, and the same square as the son who killed his parents to protect his dogs - coming soon to Murder Mile. Completed in 1962 as part of the post-war regeneration of London’s decimated housing, Woodchester Square prominently features two 21-story, 200 foot tall, residential tower blocks between the Grand Union Canal at Little Venice and the A404 Westway, a very busy carriageway. Covered in silver panels, concrete and glass, on the architects page it was probably hailed as ‘a vision of the future’, but now with tacky shell-suits hanging off the balconies, rusty satellite dishes only able to pick up Sputnik, and a line of 1990s hot-hatches blasting out drum n bass, it looks like ‘a blurry hangover from the past’. Comprising of 127 flats, it is home for hundreds of people, but for one couple in particular, it was the scene of a terrifying experience, which left them mentally scarred and one, physically injured for life. In 2018, Woodchester Square was one of far too many public places in London where criminal gangs used acid as a weapon, leaving their intended victims either disfigured, disabled and dead. And even though it seems like a modern affectation in their arsenal of hate, it has a long and troubling history. But why is it used, how did we make it easier for those who abuse it, and what can be done to stop it? My name is Michael, I am your tour guide, and this is Murder Mile. Episode 346: Vitriol – The London Acid Attacks. On Monday the 24th of September 2018, while Britain was seething about Putin owing to the Novichok poisoning in Salisbury, bickering over Theresa May’s failed ‘Chequer’s plan’ over Brexit, and sweating having endured the ‘hottest summer on record’ (now since beaten), it was a long hot night in this side of the city, and all that could be heard was the rush of traffic and the hum of basic air-conditioning. That evening, a couple (unnamed for safety reasons) had gone out for dinner, they’d had a pleasant night, and being a few months pregnant, they were eagerly awaiting the arrival of their child. Driving home, all they had on their minds was the essentials of their new life; cots, cribs, nappies and rattles. At exactly 9pm, they pulled up in their parking spot in the concrete car park outside of Princethorpe House in Woodchester Square, where the pregnant woman lived. Like all homes, she felt safe as they got out of the car and her boyfriend began to walk her to her flat, as he had done many times before… …but safety is only an illusion. We don’t know why they were targeted - as fearing reprisals on themselves, their family and friends, the couple never gave a statement to the Police and never identified any of the suspects – but it wasn’t believed to be personal or business, just profit, as they drove a nice car and wore expensive jewellery. From a parked van, the doors slid open, and a gang of five men wearing balaclavas burst out. Muffling the mouths of this terrified couple with their gloved-hands, as both were dragged kicking and trying to scream into the van, the pregnant woman broke free and managed to flee, but with her boyfriend being the main target of their pointless little heist, roaring swiftly away, within seconds, he was gone… …but taken by who, where to, and why? Whether the plan had gone awry having only kidnapped one of them is uncertain, but with him bound and blindfolded in the back of the van, being beaten black and blue, he was driven across West London for more than four hours; never knowing where he was, where he was going, or if he would even live to see his baby born, and although this must have absolutely terrified him, the worst was yet to come. The gang were five pointless, petty thieves who had made a life for themselves by bringing misery to many, and although, they gave a wealth of excuses about why they’d turned to crime, such as austerity or abandonment (hardships which millions navigate without being leeches on the backside of society), this wasn’t a crime to feed their family, but their drug habits, fragile egos and dreams of a thug life. They were 36-year-old Aston Rochester of Chaplin Road in Harrow, his 31-year-old brother Denzil, 23-year-old Jamal Gordon-Harris of Dart Street in Kilburn, 27-year-old Rennell Rutty of Creighton Close in White City, and 40-year-old Bradley Evans of Fulham Palace Road - five friends with criminal records. Back in 2007, when he was tried at Southwark Crown Court, Denzil Rochester was described by the Harrow Times, his local paper as part of “a gang of drug-addicted robbers”, off-their-faces on cocaine. With 15 others, in a four-month spree in which they targeted five branches of Ladbrokes betting shops a day anywhere from Yorkshire to Devon, they would swarm around a Cash Quest gambling machine, split the cover on the terminal and fool it into printing vouchers which could be exchanged for cash. In total, they stole £55,000, and if even one of them had bothered to get a GSCE in maths, they’d have worked out that the haul divided by 16 only adds up to £3500 each, and with the job having taken 120 days, that earns them £30 a day, not including the cost of fuel, food and hotels. Their time would have been better spent sitting on their arses, watching telly, earning £15 a day in unemployment benefits. But with the average cocaine addict spending £120 a day, their frazzled brains didn’t think that way. All 16 were arrested, with Denzil Rochester jailed for a year, and the others; Mark Riley, Stephen Koya, Christopher Melim, Ashley Hutchinson, Shane McCleod, Lee Johnston, David Carey and Sean Murphy, serving anywhere up-to 12 months in prison, a community order or put on a drug treatment program. But did this stop them from committing further crimes? No, as the law is ineffective and slow to react. They all had prior convictions, being petty criminals who plagued the streets for their own selfish gain – like in 2014, when Rennell Rutty was stopped by police and four wraps of crack cocaine fell from his trouser leg, when searched six more fell out, and like a crap Santa, while in custody, several more fell from his body like his arse was a drug dispenser – and although he was convicted of intent to supply Class A drugs such as crack and heroin, sentenced to two years in prison, even though PC Nick Lee said “I am pleased that a drug dealer has been taken off the streets of Brent”, did it stop him for good? No, as too often the law is merely a minor obstacle for criminals for a brief period of time. The same is said of the weapons they use; sometimes it’s guns, sometimes it’s knives, and sometimes it’s acid. Three years before the kidnapping at Woodchester Square, a similar attack occurred which had all the hallmarks of the other; kidnap, extortion and violence, but as the culprits were never caught, it can’t be determined if this heinous crime was committed by the same gang, or some of the same members. In early April 2015, 20-year-old Economics student Motaz Zaid was involved in a minor collision while driving his car, and instead of exchanging insurance details, the other driver threatened him with violence if he didn’t pay him £400, which he did – this was little more than a ‘crash for cash’ scam. A week later, on the 10th of April, while out with his friend at 12:40am at St Marks Close, West London, his friend was stabbed, and being dragged to a silver Mercedes C220 Estate, Motaz was blindfolded, bound and driven around the city for hours to disorientate him. Pulling up at Beverley Way in Kingston, they tortured him for money; they beat him, they pulled his ears with pliers, they made him swallow ammonia, and they sprayed his face with acid. Minutes later, a passing police patrol saw the car with the boot open, they gave chase and lost to target vehicle, but Motaz was found and taken to hospital. Motaz was placed in intensive care, given police protection, and was in a coma owing to his pain and infected skin. His father Azz said ”We don't know if his vision is affected. Doctors say it is very serious. He woke up today but he cannot speak, his throat is very damaged. He can only point. My heart is broken when I see my son like that. I can't believe anyone could do that to another human being". Only these weren’t humans who attacked Motaz… …but animals, and sadly, they were never caught. This has become a phenomenon, “as the UK has one of the highest rates of acid attacks per capita in the world” according to Acid Survivors Trust International, with recorded attacks increasing nearly three-fold from 228 in 2012 to 601 in 2016, with 2017 being the worst ever year so far for acid attacks. “Unlike in other countries, where 80 per cent of acid attacks are against women, in the UK most victims are men”, ASTI says. Gang disputes are said to be behind the rise, with half of all UK attacks in London. Dr Simon Harding of Middlesex University said “acid was once a weapon of last resort, but may now be the first”, with many gang members swapping guns and knives for acid as it’s hard to monitor. Back in 2018, gun owners were required to have thorough background, criminal and medical checks, a 5-year licence, a "good reason" to own a gun (such as sport or farming), with handguns largely banned. Knives require the owner to have a valid ID and a registered address for legal online purchases, but in 2018, there were no ID checks or age restrictions on the sale of acid; a child could buy sulphuric acid, as long as it wasn’t stronger than a 15% solution, which could still disfigure, disable and kill. We made these weapons simple and easy for gangs and any wannabe killer to buy, they have a devastating impact on the victims, but (unlike other weapon) had no ramifications for someone caught carrying it. Anyone illegally possessing of a knife in the UK may receive an unlimited fine, a training order for youths, or up to four years in prison. Illegally possessing a gun carries a mandatory five-year minimum sentence with a maximum of seven. Whereas acid had no specific legislation on its sale, or its impact. The same year as the kidnap in Woodchester Square, three months before on the 13th of July 2018, a devasting spree of acid attacks across East London was committed not by a dangerous criminal gang… …but by one boy. 17-year-old Derryck John was the passenger on a moped which trawled Stratford, Hackney, Shoreditch and Upper Clapton (an East London street given the dubious monicker of the ‘Murder Mile’), and in a 90-minute spree, they stole two mopeds and attempted to take another four, using acid as a weapon. At 9:30pm, at the junction of Penny Brookes Street and De Coubertin Street in Stratford, he threw acid in the face of a 69-year-old moped rider, and after a terrifying foot chase, she managed to get away. At 10:25pm, on the corner of Queensbridge Road and Hackney Road, 32-year-old Jabed Hussain, an Uber food delivery driver had acid, possibly ammonia, thrown through the open visor of his helmet. His bike was stolen, he suffered severe facial burns and breathing problems after he was attacked, and unable to return to work and provide for his family, Jabed said he became “a totally different man". And even though Jabed was left writhing in pain, the acid attackers didn’t stop their spree. 24 minutes later at 10:49pm, a 44-year-old was sprayed with acid on St Paul's Road in Islington, but nothing was stolen. At 11:05pm on Shoreditch High Street, a 52-year-old man was splashed, but they failed to steal his bike. At 11:18pm on Cazenove Road in Upper Clapton, 24-year-old Bruno Goncalves was sprayed, and at 11:37pm, on Chatsworth Road in Lower Clapton, a 33-year-old man was attacked. All were injured, physically and mentally, with one of the victims was left with "life-changing injuries". Giving evidence, Bruno Goncalves said he was stopped at a red light in Upper Clapton Road. He didn’t see it happen, but felt it splash as Derryck John sprayed acid in his face and eyes from an Evian bottle. Like cowards, they fled when he fought back, and although an ambulance was called, he was treated at a specialist hospital, but with his eye having turned black as 70% of the cells had been burnt, being left in excruciating pain, even though his sight returned, he couldn’t afford the £150 it cost every fortnight in painkillers and medication to heal him, so he had to give up his job as a food delivery rider. Oddly, even though Derryck John had no compassion for any of his victims, as he went to buy £5 worth of fuel at the Texaco petrol station on Mare Street in Hackney, he obeyed the law which said you mustn’t wear a helmet inside of a petrol station, and the CCTV caught an image of his face and clothes. Tried at Wood Green Crown Court in January 2018, found guilty of six counts of throwing a corrosive liquid with intent to “disable, burn, maim, disfigure or cause grievous bodily harm”, with two counts of robbery and four counts of attempted robbery, Judge Noel Lucas said “if you had been an adult, you would have received a sentence of 22 years”. Instead, he was jailed for 10 and a half, with three in a young offenders institute “and half your sentence in custody, then you will be released on licence”. It’s likely he is out already, and his unidentified associate who drove the bike remains at large. But it’s not just career criminals who use acid as an easy and readily-available weapon. As examples across just 2017: on the 1st of April, Arthur Collins threw acid at 20 people in a nightclub called Mangle E8. Leaving many with permeant scars, he claimed it was the date rape drug, GHB (as if that’s any better), and although he professes his innocence, he was sentenced to 20 years in prison. On the 27th of July, Katie Leong scarred her boyfriend, 31-year-old Daniel Rotariu for life and left him blind, as having rejected her sexual advances, while he slept, she poured acid into his face and eyes. She was convicted of his attempted murder and was sentenced to 17 years in prison for the attack. Legislation is always slow to catch up. If some people get hurt, there’s a chance that the issue will be raised in parliament, but it may only become law when enough people die and society demands it. In September 2015, 29-year-old Dutch engineer Mark van Dongen was left blinded and paralysed from the neck down as well as losing his left leg, eye and an ear, when his ex-lover Berlinah Wallace hurled concentrated sulphuric acid in his face as he slept in Bristol. Having begged doctors to end his life, on the 2nd of January 2017, having chosen to die at a euthanasia clinic in Belgium, in a landmark case, his attacker was found guilty of throwing a corrosive substance with intent, and sentenced to 12 years. But still the law which legislates against the sale and use of acid as a weapon… … isn’t a modern issue we’re facing for the first time, but a very old one. Vitriol, it’s a word we all understand, meaning ‘bitter criticism or malice’, but it’s origins stem back to the archaic word for sulphuric acid, first produced on an industrial scale in England in the 1740s. For centuries, Vitriol was used as a common bleach and cleaning agent, but being so easy to obtain, during the labour disputes of the industrial revolution in the 1820s and 30s, acid was increasingly common as a weapon used by workers against their managers, with The Glasgow Herald in 1834 describing the crime as "throwing vitriol" and becoming so common that it was "a stain on the national character". This came off the back of another case, when in February that year, a man called Hugh Kennedy was hung for “throwing vitriol wilfully and maliciously” on the face of a fellow servant as he slept. The man awoke in agony with “one of his eyes being literally burned out!” The people demanded change, and said “no punishment could be too severe… we would have their arms cut off by the shoulders, and send them to roam as outcasts from society, without the power of throwing vitriol again”, and even though some laws were changed, it was ineffective and would remain so for almost another 200 years. Still today, the term vitriolage means to throw acid or a corrosive substance into the face of another person to disfigure, maim or kill, and yet, even in 2018, the laws around it were equally as archaic. So, what has this got to do with the kidnap on the couple at Woodchester Square? On the night of Monday the 24th of September 2018, at exactly 9pm, a nameless couple (their bellies full of food and a baby) pulled up in their usual spot in the concrete car park outside of the 21-storey tower block at Princethorpe House. They got out, he locked up and pocketed the key, and being easily 30 feet from the communal doors of the flats, they felt safe, but then again, safety is only an illusion. From a parked van, four of the gang of five wearing balaclavas grabbed the couple, she kicked off and fled, and with the man dragged into the back, in a plume of dusty gravel, the van was gone in seconds. Bound, blindfolded and terrified, the man was kept pinned down by Aston Rochester, Jamal Gordon-Harris, Rennell Rutty and Bradley Evans, as Denzil Rochester drove the van across the city for the next four hours; the man never knowing if he’d live or die, breathe his last, or be buried whole or in pieces. At some point, somewhere, he was bundled into the rear footwell of a car where again, he was beaten, the van was set alight, and the car was driven by Evans to his home in Fulham Palace Road by 1:15am. Whether they knew him or not was irrelevant, as this wasn’t about hatred or revenge, all what they wanted was his money. They may not even have known how much he was worth, or whether they simply assumed he was minted because he drove a flash car, wore designer clothes and flashy jewellery, but inside this unidentified flat on Fulham Palace Road, they would make him beg for them to stop. Across the next 12 hours, with his wrists and ankles bound and his mouth gagged with tape, they took it in turns to beat and strangle him to the point of death, and then, having dragged him to the bath, they poured acid upon the bare exposed flesh of his naked body, it fizzing as it ate through the layers. Acid is a horrible weapon; when poured on exposed skin, initially the skin fights off the acid by causing a numbness, but that is only temporary, as being so caustic, acids like sulphuric can penetrate all the layers of the skin causing second and third-degree burns. With skin being 64% water, when acid hits it, a strong exothermic reaction occurs generating heat and thermal burns causing the skin to redden, blister, peel and with the acid causing coagulation necrosis (also known as tissue death) resulting in a dark brown or greeny-black scab, this masks the depth of the underlying damage caused by the acid. But acid burns aren’t just cosmetic resulting in permanent scarring, they can also cause tissue damage, muscle loss, restricted movement, ulcers, chronic inflammation, a high risk of infection, organ failure, paralysis, blindness and irreversible damage to other senses as well as coma and death owing to shock. Gangs use it as a weapon, as not only is it cheap to buy and unregulated (unlike guns and knives), but it causes excruciating pain, distress and terror across a very long and lingering torture. It leaves scars, which are a reminder for the victim and a warning to others. And although the man was hideously burned by the acid, he either couldn’t or wouldn’t give up his money, so the gang took it s step further. On a burner phone, they called his mother and demanded money. He was in pain, he was screaming, he told her that he feared for his life, and although she transferred £6000, roughly £1200 each to his five hapless captors, having demanded a second payment but with no more money to send, they had his mother leave his gold Rolex watch on the tyre of his car still parked where the attack took place. Evans drove to Woodchester Square, Gordon-Harris grabbed the watch and they sped away. As agreed they dumped the man (with his skin blistered and bubbling) on the roadside, and spotted by a passerby he was taken to hospital, where his condition was listed as critical, but lived, his outcome is unknown. The gang thought they had planned the perfect heist, but criminals gangs aren’t the smartest. They abducted a rich man who wasn’t rich, for an amount of money which for each of them added up to less than the minimum monthly wage. Having threatened them, neither the man nor his girlfriend gave a statement for fear of reprisals, and although the robbers wore balaclavas and burned out the car and the van destroying any fingerprints and DNA, meaning the acid-strewn flat and bathtub at Fulham Palace Road couldn’t be found. But… as Jamal Gordon-Harris collected the Rolex from the car’s tyre, it was captured on CCTV, as was his face, and the car, and the car’s driver being Evans, and even though the licence plate was false, identifying those two led to their other known associates. (End) Jamal Gordon-Harris & Rennell Rutty were arrested after grabbing the Rolex, Denzil & Aston Rochester were arrested at home that same day, with Bradley Evans arrested weeks later on the 31st of October. Following a six-week trial at Harrow Crown Court, with evidence provided by the Met Police’s Modern Slavery and Kidnap Unit, all five of the gang denied the charge of conspiracy to kidnap, but on Friday the 12th of July 2019, they were all found guilty. Aston Rochester to 11 years and 3 months, his brother Denzil and Rennell Rutty to 9 years and 9 months, Jamal Gordon-Harris to 10 years and 3 months, and Bradley Evans to 10 years and 9 months. With it costing £53,000 a year to prison them, it will cost the UK tax-payer £2.75 million excluding legal fees, and all because these idiots stole £6000 and a watch. In 2017, one year before, Home Secretary Amber Rudd told the Tory Party Conference: “acid attacks are revolting. You have all seen the pictures of victims that never fully recover. Endless surgeries. Lives ruined. We are going to stop people carrying acid in public if they don’t have a good reason”. With the introduction of the Offensive Weapons Act 2019, this made it “illegal to carry a corrosive substance in a public place in the UK without good reason or lawful authority”. This law brought acid in line with the possession of knives in a public place and anyone caught “could be imprisoned for up to 4 years”. An age restriction of 18 has been set on all corrosive products, police have powers to stop and search anyone suspected of unlawfully carrying acid without a good reason (such a being a plumber), and sulphuric acid at a concentration above 15% requires a Home Office licence. And the use of acid as a weapon can lead to severe charges, such as GBH with intent, which can result in a life sentence. Initially, the Offensive Weapons Act 2019 saw a 70% decrease of acid attacks in the UK from 2019 to 2021, which may partially have been down to the pandemic, but 2022 showed a 70% increase in cases with a further increase of 75% in 2023. As it was 200 years ago, the laws around “throwing vitriol” are as archaic and ineffective as before, the use of corrosive substances isn’t as regulated as it needs to be, so acid remains the weapon of choice of many London gangs. And it will be until the law changes. The Murder Mile UK True Crime Podcast has been researched using the original declassified police investigation files, court records, press reports and as many authentic sources as possible, which are freely available in the public domain, including eye-witness testimony, confessions, autopsy reports, first-hand accounts and independent investigation, where possible. But these documents are only as accurate as those recounting them and recording them, and are always incomplete or full of opinion rather than fact, therefore mistakes and misrepresentations can be made. As stated at the beginning of each episode (and as is clear by the way it is presented) Murder Mile UK True Crime Podcast is a 'dramatisation' of the events and not a documentary, therefore a certain amount of dramatic licence, selective characterisation and story-telling (within logical reason and based on extensive research) has been taken to create a fuller picture. It is not a full and complete representation of the case, the people or the investigation, and therefore should not be taken as such. It is also often (for the sake of clarity, speed and the drama) presented from a single person's perspective, usually (but not exclusively) the victim's, and therefore it will contain a certain level of bias and opinion to get across this single perspective, which may not be the overall opinion of those involved or associated. Murder Mile is just one possible retelling of each case. Murder Mile does not set out to cause any harm or distress to those involved, and those who listen to the podcast or read the transcripts provided should be aware that by accessing anything created by Murder Mile (or any source related to any each) that they may discover some details about a person, an incident or the police investigation itself, that they were unaware of.
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AuthorMichael J Buchanan-Dunne is a crime writer, podcaster of Murder Mile UK True Crime and creator of true-crime TV series. 
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