Acid Attack Dad felt skin turn to jelly after killer blinded him for money

Victim Lee Deakin described in a statement how “everything went dark” and he could taste chemicals in the seconds after Jonathan Gordon’s vicious attack, who was sentenced to life in prison

A father was thrown into a “world of darkness” when a bottle of acid was thrown in his face by a ruthless killer who was sentenced to life in prison.

Jonathan Gordon, 34, was offering his services on the EncroChat encrypted phone network using the ValuedBridge handle and was hired by an unidentified crime boss named Aceprospect for unspeakable crimes.

A member of the ruthless Liverpool Deli Mob, he charged £6,000 for an acid attack and £10,000 to blind someone.

In 2019, Lee Deakin had stepped in front of a phone charger when a corrosive substance was thrown in his face, leaving him in agony.

Judge David Aubrey today sentenced him to life imprisonment with a minimum of 24 years for the assault. The Liverpool Echo reported.

Mr Deakin had hoped to attend today’s sentencing hearing but has had to undergo another emergency operation.

He said in a statement: “I felt a splash of liquid on my face and my eyes burned, everything went dark, my mouth burned and everything tasted like chemicals. All I could smell was an ammonia-like odor, I knew I was in trouble.

“My skin felt like jelly. When I washed my face, it felt like my skin was falling off my face. My eyes and skin kept burning and I was in agony.

“I was afraid of forgetting my children’s faces. I thought about how they would age and their faces would change, but I would only ever know them as children.”

Messages on Gordon’s Encrochat platform lamented the fact that “C*** came to the sink” to wash the acid off his face.

They also revealed that in early April 2020, Gordon tried to organize a similar attack against a man in Blackpool, which was canceled because the streets were deserted during the coronavirus lockdown.

AceProspect had told Gordon the victim “needed a pint on him”.

On April 6, Gordon recruited violent thug Dylan Johnston and petty criminal Stephen Wissett, 27, who later admitted to being “over his head.”

The couple were told to drive a stolen Ford Fiesta car from Kirkdale to Birtles Road, Warrington, where Johnston would spray acid on another man. However, that plan was cut short when the couple discovered a video camera near the victim’s home.

‘AceProspect’ was unimpressed and told Gordon to go back and “double the dose”. He suggested stabbing the victim in the leg to prevent them from “getting to the sink” and rinsing off the acid.

Johnston and Wissett traveled to Kirkdale the following day, but a car she and Gordon were traveling in was approached by Merseyside Police officers. The three men fled, but the vehicle was impounded and examined.

Their efforts to attack the Warrington man were put on hold, news revealed, when a grenade was left outside the property on April 14, 2020, prompting bomb squad to come out and visit armed police at the scene. Gordon still promised his boss that the attack would happen, writing: “He will be blinded bro”.

As part of the Encrochat investigation, Gordon was linked to a firefight on May 25, 2020 at Wilburn Street, Walton. He told AceProspect he “dropped a clip on the street.”

Police visited the scene and found a kicked-in front door with Gordon’s DNA on the handle.

Gordon was convicted of triple conspiracy to cause aggravated assault; two counts of possession of a firearm with intent to endanger life and one count of conspiracy to possess a firearm with intent to endanger life.

Johnston was jailed for 18 years.

Judge Aubrey said: “The offenses for which you are both convicted are of the utmost seriousness, some of them extremely appalling.

“You, Gordon, were the holder of the handle known as ValuedBridge and between April 2019 and May 2020 you plotted, planned and committed serious crimes, some of which materialized and others did not.

“You were recruited by others to act as a killer, as an enforcer, you were willing, on one occasion without any compassion, to inflict serious, lasting harm on your victim.

“They did it for pounds, shillings and pence.”