A shop worker suffered lasting injuries after being sprayed in the face with ammonia by a shoplifter’s accomplice.
The man, 29, was attacked when he followed a woman suspected of shoplifting out of the shop in Bow, east London.
But once outside and down a side street off the busy Roman Road he was a sprayed by a man “causing serious potentially life-changing injuries.”
The man, described as white in his 20s, with short blonde or ginger hair, escaped on December 27.
The woman, aged 46, was arrested on suspicion of GBH and shoplifting and later charged with theft.
A police spokesperson said: “Detectives are appealing for information and witnesses after a shop worker was sprayed with a noxious substance.
“Police were called at around 5.45pm on 27 December to reports of a man injured after being sprayed with a substance in Cardigan Road, Bow.
“The victim, a 29-year-old man, was attacked by a man as he pursued on foot a female suspected of shoplifting out of the store he worked at.
“The substance, believed to be ammonia, was sprayed in the man’s face, causing serious potentially life-changing injuries.
“The suspect was described as a white male in his 20s, with short blonde or ginger hair. He was wearing jeans and a dark-coloured jacket.”
By Tony Whitfield