A spate of acid attacks in Britain in recent months has led the UK government to characterise acid as a "highly dangerous weapon" for the first time. The Sentencing Council's new guidelines published today mean that judges in the UK would be able to impose harsher punishments on anyone found to be carrying acid and other corrosive substances in public.
It forms part of efforts to crack down on attacks using such substances, with more than 400 recorded in England and Wales in just six months up to April 2017.
According to officials figures, attacks across London alone rose from 260 in 2015 to 426 in the first 10 months of 2017.
Under the new guidelines, adults convicted of carrying a corrosive substance in public for a second time will be given a minimum six-month jail term, and under-18s will be handed a four-month detention and training order.
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