Katie Piper

Kate Elizabeth Sutton (née Piper; born 12 October 1983) is an English writer, activist, television presenter and model from Andover, Hampshire.

In March 2008, she was attacked with acid by her ex-boyfriend and an accomplice, causing major damage to her face and blindness in one eye.

Piper underwent pioneering surgery to restore her face and vision.

Both attackers were convicted and given life sentences.

On 31 March 2008, two days after the initial attack, Lynch persuaded Piper to go to an internet cafe to read an email he had sent to her Facebook account.

Luring Piper to this location was a ruse, as he had given her details to Stefan Sylvestre, who identified her on Golders Green Road.

Wearing a hoodie to obscure his identity, Sylvestre approached Piper, who thought he was going to ask for money, and then threw sulphuric acid at her face.

The attack was caught on CCTV, and both Lynch and Sylvestre were later arrested.

Lynch received two life sentences, and will serve a minimum of 16 years.

Sylvestre received a life sentence, and was told he would serve a minimum of 6 years.

In 2009, Piper gave up her right to anonymity in order to increase awareness about burn victims.

Her experience was documented in the 2009 Channel 4 documentary Katie: My Beautiful Face part of the Cutting Edge series.

It has subsequently been sold internationally.

More recently, Piper has appeared in follow-up series for Channel 4, released a best-selling autobiography, and had a regular column in weekly magazines.

She also presents the Channel 4 television series Bodyshockers about members of the public about to undergo body-altering procedures and those who regret procedures they have had.

Her main work has been for the Katie Piper Foundation, which she founded to help victims of burns and other disfigurement injuries.

In 2018, one of the attackers was released after serving nine years in prison.

On 13 August 2018, she was announced as the first contestant for that year's Strictly Come Dancing.

Sylvestre's parole application for release was approved in 2018.

In 2022 it was reported Sylvestre had breached the terms of his parole on numerous occasions; he is now being hunted by police after going on the run and allegedly fleeing the UK that August.

Immediately after the attack, Piper ran into a local café, where an ambulance was called.

Piper was treated in Chelsea and Westminster Hospital, where her treatment was led by plastic surgeon Mohammad Ali Jawad.

The acid, some of which Piper had swallowed, blinded her in her left eye, and caused partial thickness and full thickness burns.

On 11 September 2020 BBC media announced that Katie Piper would be joining their BBC1 Songs of Praise team as a feature presenter, scheduling her debut broadcast on 20 September.

Piper had previously appeared as a guest, with her mother on the 2020 Mothers Day edition, when she explained the moment she found her faith.

In July 2021, Piper became a panellist on Loose Women.

Piper was born in Andover, Hampshire, to David and Diane Piper and attended Harrow Way School and Portway Junior School as a child.

She has an elder brother, Paul and a younger sister, Suzy.

After leaving school, Piper trained as a beautician, aiming to build on her fondness for fashion and beauty, and to follow in the footsteps of her father, who worked as a barber.

Piper subsequently began a career in modelling, taking part in various fashion, glamour and promotional photoshoots, including modelling for national newspapers.

She also began work as a promotional model: appearing and carrying out publicity duties at live events, such as working as a ring-card girl at martial arts fixtures.

Piper also conducted a career as a digital television presenter, working principally on web-TV shows and features, and on small digital television channels, primarily in the shopping and live-chat fields.

As her career began to develop, Piper moved away from her family home in Hampshire, and began to live with friends in a flat in Golders Green, North London.

Daniel Lynch, a martial arts enthusiast who had been tracking Piper's media and modelling career, met her through Facebook.

The two first met in person in Reading, Berkshire, where Piper had been working, and initially Piper was pleased with the relationship.

Two weeks into their relationship, the couple booked into a hotel in Bayswater, following a meal out.

In the hotel room, Lynch raped and beat Piper, threatened to cut her with a razor and hang her, and stabbed her several times in the arms.

After eight hours at the hotel, they drove back to Piper's Golders Green flat.

Piper was treated for her wounds at Royal Free Hospital, but withheld the nature of the incident from the doctors and police, because she was afraid of Lynch.

Piper received numerous phone calls and apologies from Lynch.