Herts police still urgently appealing for witnesses following acid attack

Police in Hertfordshire continue their investigation into an acid attack in Borehamwood earlier this week.

Hertfordshire Police headquarters
Author: Zoe Head-ThomasPublished 27th Oct 2023

Hertfordshire Police are still investigating on an incident that occurred earlier this week, where a member of the public suffered an acid attack.

Police were called to the Eldon Avenue area of Borehamwood on Monday night (October 23) following reports of a person banging on people's doors.

Upon arrival, they found a person washing what is now believed to be sulphuric acid off their face.

The victim was treated by paramedics at the scene and taken to hospital, and later released after suffering minor injuries to his eyes and lips.

"...we take it very seriously."

The crime, of uncommon nature, shocked nearby residents and the community of Borehamwood.

Detective Inspector for Hertfordshire Police, Beth Hanna, assured this is an unusual offence.

She said: "They're very rare, I am pleased to report, which is why when we get an incident of this kind, we take it very seriously."

In the case of an attack of this kind, a special unit called on Chemical Biological Radiological and Nuclear (CBRN) is called in to offer technical advice.

Alongside a CBRN officer, forensics teams and the fire brigade were present with police, who established a crime scene.

"...anything we can do to divert juveniles to this kind of criminality."

Although this is being treated as an isolated incident, Hertfordshire Police are working hard to deter all types of crime, starting with educating youngsters.

Speaking to Greatest Hits Radio, DI Beth Hanna said: "We work with our partners, the council, we have community engagement events, we also work internally with our children and young persons team."

"We look at whether we ca do anything to divert juveniles to this kind of criminality."

Police are asking anyone with doorbell, dashcam or CCTV footage to help with their investigation, and are asking witnessed to come forward.

They want to reassure the population that this attack is not treated as a hate crime in relation to the conflict in Israel and Palestine.

If you have any information, you can report it to Hertfordshire Police's website quoting crime reference 41/84837/23.