The world was left horrified after Katie Piper was attacked with sulphuric acid in 2008. The model, then 24, suffered severe burns that left permanent scarring and was put in an induced coma for almost 12 days as surgeons carried out skin grafts.
Now police are once again looking for Katie’s acid attacker, Stefan Sylvestre, in an ‘urgent’ man hunt after he breached the licence conditions of his parole. Sylvestre was given a life sentence in 2009 and was told he would serve a minimum of six years before he would be considered for early release.
In 2018 he was set free, a time Katie said was ‘really difficult’ for her. At the time of his release, the Parole Board said Sylvestre had ‘displayed empathy for the victim and expressed remorse and shame for his actions’ adding that he had ‘repaired his relationship’ with his family, hadn’t taken part in any anti-social behaviour in jail and had ‘completed relevant offence-focused work to challenge and change his attitude and thinking’.
But Sylvestre has now been recalled to jail with officers racing to find him after an undisclosed breach of parole conditions. A Probation Service spokeswoman told the BBC: ‘We are urgently working with the police to bring the offender back to prison where he’ll face longer behind bars.’
Katie was left fighting for her life 14 years ago after her ex-boyfriend Daniel Lynch organised for Sylvestre to throw acid over her in March 2008. Lynch was jailed for life with minimum jail time of 16 years for sexually assaulting Katieand telling Sylvestre to launch the acid attack. The judge described the pair as ‘the face of pure evil’.
‘When the acid was thrown at me, it felt like I was burning in hell,’ Katie said in her victim statement at the trial. ‘It was an indescribable, unique, torturous pain. I have lost my future, my career, my spirits, 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.’
Despite adversity, Katie became an inspirational household nameafter her Channel 4 documentary Katie: My Beautiful Face aired in 2009, which showed the early stages of her recovery. Since then, she’s taken part in Strictly Come Dancing, launched her podcast Katie Piper’s Extraordinary People and runs an eponymous charitable foundation.
After Katie’s documentary aired, people in her parent’s village would put cheques through their door, wanting to help. She then opened a bank account with charitable status and started her foundation the year after: ‘It was good for me, you know – everyone needs a purpose,’ she told Grazia. ‘I was brought up to work, always. My mum’s a really nice person but even after the acid attack, she said, “Well, you’re going to have to get a job!”’ It’s British, isn’t it – you’ve got to pick yourself back up and get on.’
Grazia has contacted Katie about the hunt for Stefan Sylvestre, who is unable to comment on the ongoing investigation for legal reasons.