A woman scarred for life when her jealous friend threw acid in her face says she has forgiven her.

Naomi Oni was followed home from work before Mary Konye - disguised in a veil - attacked her with corrosive liquid, almost blinding her.

Konye, 22, had been driven wild by jealousy over he friend's good looks and plotted to destroy her life.

But brave Naomi, 25, says she won't let the attack ruin her - and has even forgiven her attacker despite her showing no remorse after being jailed for 12 years in 2014.

Naomi, who has had several face operations since the 2012 assault, told the Daily Mail: "I do forgive her.

"I owe myself the freedom to move on. But I still think she is a callous, vindictive person; a complete coward who betrayed me."

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Konye sent sympathetic messages to the victim after the ordeal, while police were still hunting the attacker, a new BBC 3 documentary reveals.

She even attended Naomi’s 21st birthday party as police hunted the person responsible. When she was finally prosecuted she claimed Naomi had thrown acid on herself to gain 'fame and fortune'.

Some five years after the assault in East London, the 25-year-old has spoken out for the first time about how the 2012 attack changed her life forever.

She was on her way home from work at the Victoria's Secret lingerie shop in Stratford's Westfield shopping centre to Dagenham when her life was changed forever.

She told the programme: “I thought she was my friend and I couldn't understand why she did what she.

“To be betrayed - for someone to lead you to your own destruction - I was heartbroken.”

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Speaking about the attack itself, Naomi said: “I looked to the side of me and I remember seeing someone in just black and the person's face being covered.

"There was a very cold stare and I remember thinking, 'Whoah, OK, just cross the road and go to your house'.

“Before I knew it I felt a huge splash and I immediately screamed.

“I was running down my road. I remember banging on the door, screaming "It's burning, it's burning, acid, acid, acid."'

Miss Oni needed facial reconstruction surgery twice to treat her horrific burns at a specialist unit.

Doctors had to use skin from her thighs to rebuild her face and from behind her ears to create new eyelids.

Konye, of Canning Town, East London, was jailed in March 2014 for 12 years for the horrific attack after police reviewed the CCTV footage of Naomi being followed home from Westfield.

The perpetrator claimed Naomi attacked herself so she could enjoy “fame and fortune” like TV presenter Katie Piper, who was attacked with acid in 2008.

The victim had known her attacker since school and believes she may have carried out the assault out of jealousy.

“I don't think it's true but that was probably a big thing for her,” Naomi added.

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Since 2014 the number of reported acid attacks has more than doubled to 431 in 2016.

The borough of Newham, which includes Westfield and Dagenham, where Naomi then lived and worked, is one of the most affected areas.

Almost 400 of London’s 1,500 reported attacks in the past five years happened in the borough.

  • Acid Attack: My Story is on BBC Three on Thursday, January 4

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