Acid attack trial: Accused thought he was just getting victim 'dirty'

Nursing home carer Vikki Horsman, aged 20, was scarred for life after Steven Holmes threw acid on her face and upper body on the doorstep of a house in MacDonald Close, Tividale.

Yesterday at Wolverhampton Crown Court Holmes, 25, told a jury that a man he had met three days before the April 15 attack paid him £50 to 'teach her a lesson'.

Holmes has admitted causing grievous bodily harm but denies he intended to injure the victim.

Under cross-examination at the trial, Holmes told the jury he had been released from prison on April 12 and approached a man about a job cleaning windows.

Holmes said he next saw the man, who he knew as 'Keith', outside a Co-op store near MacDonald Close a few hours before he carried out the attack.

Holmes told the jury: "Keith told me he wanted me to throw the liquid over someone called Vikki Horsman. He told me where to find her and said she'd be there at about 3pm.

"He gave me a plastic bag with a present for her which he said was a distraction, and a jug which he said had engine oil in it. It was just meant to dirty her up."

The defendant added that he was given £50 which he accepted because he 'needed the money at the time'.

The jury was told Holmes approached the house where the victim was staying with three other men, one of whom he said was Keith. He denied Keith was really Shannon Heaps, 22, who is accused of being involved in orchestrating the attack.

He said that before he reached the front door he put on a black hat, a hooded top and a bandana over his lower face to hide his identity.

Holmes said when Ms Horsman came to the door he reached out to give her the gift with one hand and threw the liquid on her with the other.

The attack caused the victim to let out what one witness described as 'an almighty scream' before Holmes and the other men fled.

When asked what he thought when he saw Ms Horsman's reaction, Holmes said: "I thought, what the hell have I just done?"

Prosecutor Mr Anthony Warner asked him: "What you had done was throw a highly corrosive liquid containing sulphuric acid all over a woman's face and body, hadn't you?"

Holmes replied: "I didn't know that at the time."

The prosecution alleges Holmes carried out the attack under instructions from Ms Horsman's former partner, Mohammed Rafiq, 80.

Holmes told the court he had met Rafiq 'about three years ago' but had not seen him for 18 months at the time the incident took place.

He was unable to explain a one minute 23 second call made to his phone from Mohammed Rafiq's phone four hours after the attack had taken place.

When asked how he felt about the incident, Holmes replied: "I'm horrified. I've ruined somebody's life and I'm sorry for that."

Holmes, 25, of Allan Close, Smethwick, Rafiq, 80, of Cheshire Road, Smethwick and Heaps, 22, of Queens Avenue, Tividale, all deny one count of inflicting grievous bodily harm with intent.

Rafiq denies a further charge of perverting the course of justice. The trial continues.