Police hunting Katie Piper’s acid attacker believe he fled country over two months ago after prison recall
10 October 2022, 23:39 | Updated: 11 October 2022, 08:34
Police hunting the man who threw acid over TV presenter Katie Piper believe he may have left the country 10 weeks ago.
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Stefan Sylvestre, from Shepherd's Bush - was released on parole in 2018 aged 30, after the horrific attack in 2009.
He is being recalled to jail for breaching his licence conditions and police have launched an urgent hunt to track him down.
"Inquiries undertaken so far indicate" he left the UK on August 2, police said.
Scotland Yard, who were notified on September 23 that Sylvestre had been recalled, say he should not be approached.
His last known address was in north London.
A Probation Service spokesman earlier said: “We are urgently working with the police to bring the offender back to prison where he'll face longer behind bars.”
Katie, now 38, was left fighting for life after her obsessive ex-boyfriend Daniel Lynch arranged for Sylvestre, then 19, to throw sulphuric acid at her in Golders Green, north London.
Lynch was jailed for life with a minimum of 16 years for the attack and cannot be considered for release until 2025.
Sylvester was eligible for parole in 2015 but it was denied as he was unfit for release.
He was eventually freed in 2018 on licence on the condition he stayed away from Katie but was recalled again a year later over an unrelated incident.
In court, Lynch and Sylvestre were told by Judge Nicholas Browne QC they were "the face of pure evil".
Katie needed 40 operations to treat her burns after the attack.
In her victim impact statement in the aftermath of the attack, Katie said: “When the acid was thrown at me, it felt like I was burning in hell. It was an indescribable, unique, torturous pain.
“I have lost my future, my career, my spirit, my body, my looks, my dignity – the list goes on.
“All I am left with is an empty shell. A part of me has died that will never come back. This is worse than death.’”
In October 2019 she bravely shared a graphic image online displaying the terrible injuries she sustained after being doused with sulphuric acid.
She wrote: “I remember when I didn't want to look at anyone. I remember when I didn't want anyone to look at me. I remember when I was scared of people, scared of men.
“I remember when I was scared of the world.
“I remember when opening up to people and talking about my trauma and psychological damage just wasn't possible.”
Since the ordeal Katie has featured on numerous TV shows, including a 2009 documentary about the impact of the attack as she rebuilt her life.
She also launched the Katie Piper Foundation to raise awareness for other victims of burns and other disfigurement attacks and injuries.
