This is the terrifying moment a teenage girl was sprayed in the face with ammonia and bleach after she refused to let two strangers into her flat.
Shannelle Farrier was left in excruciating pain and worried she would be left blind when David Nicholson squirted the substance at her after a night out in Newcastle.
The 19-year-old, who fainted from the pain and had to have her eyes flushed out with liters of water, said she thought she was 'going to die'.
The teenager was grateful her injuries were not worse, but she has since struggled with her mental health and feels so anxious in her own home that she has had to move back in with her mother.
But Ms Farrier was left furious after finding out her 21-year-old attacker was spared jail after being given a suspended sentence after pleading guilty to assault.
Shannelle Farrier worried she would lose her eyesight after being sprayed in the face with ammonia and bleach
CCTV captured the moment David Nicholson squirted the substance from a Fairy liquid bottle at her
CCTV footage captured the moment Nicholson took aim at Ms Farrier after she told him she didn't want him in her flat, squirting the powerful substance from a Fairy liquid bottle.
Mrs Farrier told the Sun: 'I felt a burning sensation in my eyes and mouth. I screamed in pain and screamed that something was in my eyes.
'I really thought I was going to die and screamed for help.
'It happened straight away, I didn't know what was happening. They did it without rhyme or reason.”
The smell of the bleach was so strong that paramedics had to show up wearing protective masks and Ms Farrier had to be put in a shower to rinse the substance away before she was taken to hospital.
She was then treated for five hours by medics who desperately tried to get her eyes' pH levels back to normal.
When she returned home, she was afraid that Nicholson would return and was forced to move back in with her mother and was unable to continue her studies as she was too nervous to be outside.
Despite the physical and mental pain the attack caused her, it has emerged that Nicholson was spared jail after being given a suspended sentence.
She told the Sun that Nicholson would have targeted 'someone else' had he not attacked her, adding: 'He was prepared to harm someone.'
But she is not letting the attack stop her as Ms Farrier leaves the area and starts a new job in the coming month to 'start my new life'.
David Nicholson (pictured) was spared jail after pleading guilty to assault following the attack
In her victim impact statement, which was read out in court, Ms Farrier said: 'The incident happened for no reason at all, it was a completely unprovoked attack by two men who don't even know me and who think they can attack a woman . just because I didn't want them in my apartment.'
'It didn't leave me with a physical scar, but I did have an emotional scar. I feel fortunate that I did not lose my sight or require plastic surgery as a result of this serious attack.”
Following this, Nicholson, 21, of Hauxley Drive, Newcastle, was sentenced to 20 months suspended for two years with rehabilitation, an alcohol abstinence monitoring requirement, and given a five-year restraining order.
The Newcastle Chronicle Judge Gavin Doig reports: 'You caught her attention, she came to the door and you sprayed her in the face with something she thought was ammonia. It resulted in excruciating burning and pain for her. You did that to her twice.
'It is incredibly fortunate for her and for you that the injuries were not more serious. She was taken to hospital and her eyes were rinsed with several liters of water until the PH value dropped to a more normal level.
'I've seen pictures of the redness of her eyes. It is an extremely serious crime.”
Brian Hegarty, defending, said: “He would like to apologize to the complainant for this offence. It was not premeditated.”
A second man who handed Nicholson the bottle was convicted at an earlier hearing.