Wednesday 8 January 2014
Naomi Oni, a salesgirl at a Victoria Secret Lingerie Store was yesterday forced to deny throwing acid in her own face to gain fame and fortune.
Naomi
Oni, 21, was accused of setting up the attack and asking friend Mary
Konye, also 21, to 'play the stalker' and throw the corrosive liquid
over her.
Miss Oni vehemently denied the claims made by Konye's QC, on the third day of a trial at Snaresbrook Crown Court.
The prosecution claim Konye donned a full niqab before following Oni as she made her way home from Westfield Stratford City in east London where she worked.
The victim was left disfigured for life after Konye allegedly doused her with sulphuric acid near her home in Dagenham, Essex.
But according to the defence it was part of an elaborate plan to become rich and famous.
Today Miss Oni insisted she was not 'obsessed' with plastic surgery or the story of fellow acid attack victim Katy Piper, despite an internet search history on her laptop suggesting otherwise.
In cross examination Sally O'Neill the defence, asked her to explain to jurors the story of Ms Piper before asking whether she had become obsessed by the disfigured model.
Miss Oni said: 'I wouldn't say obsessed but it deeply moved me. I read about other attacks but it was not an obsession.'
Ms O'Neill said it was the defence case that she hatched a plan with Konye to pour acid over herself to improve her future prospects.
She said: 'You said if something similar to that of Katy Piper happened to you then that wouldn't be the end of the world because Katy Piper probably had a career boost.'
Miss Oni simply replied: 'No.'
Miss Oni admitted deleting her internet search history on her mobile phone a day before police were due to come and collect it.
She said she felt 'violated' and didn't want the police going through her personal data so she decided to delete the history on her iPhone.
Ms O'Neill suggested going to the media was the way Miss Oni had decided to launch herself into the celebrity sphere.
She said: 'It is right that your family decided to take matters into their own hands and go to the media?'
Ms Oni replied: 'We went to the press because I was homeless at the time
Ms O'Neill then said: 'You thought celebrity would come of it, didn't you? Were you offered the services of a celebrity plastic surgeon from America?'
Ms Oni replied: 'So I was told. I do not think being disfigured and being famous is something I aim for in life at all.'
Ms Oni also admitted being paid £2,000 by The Sun newspaper for an interview as well as appearing on ITVs This Morning programme and being paid a sum of £1,000.
Mary Konye, 21, admits disguising herself in a niqab and stalking Naomi Oni, also 21, on her way home from work, but denies she doused her in sulphuric acid.
Miss Oni also revealed that when she told her alleged attacker what had happened, her friend texted back: ‘OMG. Can’t believe it.’
She also cried down the phone to Konye, who offered her support, Snaresbrook Crown Court heard.
She said: ‘I just had my bandages removed and it was the first time I saw my face after surgery and I broke down and I had spoken to Mary that night and I was crying on the phone to her and she was on the phone to me telling me, “don’t worry, you’ll be OK”.’
Giving evidence yesterday, Miss Oni described how she felt a ‘presence’ behind her as she walked home.
She said: ‘I was still on the phone to my boyfriend and I felt a presence. I turned to my left and I saw someone and a black abaya [cloak] or a black niqab.
The court heard that the pair had a ‘rocky relationship’ and had stopped speaking from April to September 2011 after a row over Konye sending text messages to Miss Oni’s boyfriend.
Miss Oni said: ‘I remember asking her why she wanted to do that and I said she’s a monster or something like that.
'I said you are a monster, you are an ugly monster. I remember us insulting each other’s looks.
'She also told me she was so angry she wanted to throw acid at me, but she was advised not to by her friend.
'Her friend said, “That’s stupid, you could go to jail for that”.’
Asked what she thought at the time about the threat, Miss Oni said: ‘I thought it was quite bizarre, I felt insulted again.
'But she seemed like she wasn’t serious. I thought she was trying to frighten me a little bit.’
She also said that Katie Piper – the model who had acid thrown in her face by an accomplice of her ex-boyfriend – was her inspiration, adding: ‘I remember being deeply moved by her story and me and Mary discussed it.’
Mary Konye posted a picture of horror film villain Freddy Krueger online and wrote, ‘She better not mess with me or I’ll make her face look like this’ before the attack, the court heard yesterday.
