Families want ‘justice’ for Hampstead Garden Suburb teens attacked with acid
Katie Gee. Picture: Facebook. - Credit: Archant
The families of two Hampstead Garden Suburb girls attacked with acid on the African island of Zanzibar have spoken of their frustration that the attackers have not been brought to justice.
Kirstie Trup. Picture: Facebook. - Credit: Archant
Kirstie Trup and Katie Gee, both 18, were doused in sulphuric acid by two men on mopeds as they walked through Zanzibar’s capital city during a volunteer trip on August 7.
Both women sustained severe burns in the attack and were flown back to the UK on an emergency flight before being rushed to Chelsea and Westminster Hospital for treatment.
Doug Morris, the partner of Miss Gee’s mother, told the BBC’s Radio 4 Today programme: “If the Foreign and Commonwealth Office are as committed to helping to bring these people to justice on behalf of two British citizens, then you would expect them to move hell and high water to do that.
“And there just doesn’t seem to be any sense of urgency to conclude matters.”
It is believed police in Zanzibar have identified a possible culprit but Marc Trup, father of Miss Trup, said there was confusion over how to get the “correct format” of a photograph of the suspect to the teenagers for identification.
He said the Tanzanian authorities “hope this will go away” and called on the UK government to apply more pressure.
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Mr Trup told Today: “I would like to see whoever threw that acid brought to justice. I don’t blame the country, I don’t blame the religion. I blame the person. He needs to be brought to justice.
“Above all, the girls want to know why he did it and we would like to know why he did it. Was it racial, was it a religious thing? We have no idea why this person did it.”
Miss Trup, of Winnington Road, moved to university in Bristol in September but is understood to be receiving treatment at a local hospital.
She has to wear a pressure garment over her burns, which she has to wear 23 hours a day for a year, according to her father.
Former Francis Holland School pupil Miss Gee, of Linden Lea, is understood to have required more intensive treatment for her injuries.
