Reality TV Star Urges Boyfriend To Turn Himself In After Nightclub Acid Attack

Reality TV star Ferne McCann has called on her boyfriend to cooperate with police who want to speak to him about an acid attack that took place at a London nightclub early on Monday.

Metropolitan Police detectives are appealing for help to find Arthur Collins, 25, from Hertfordshire, after a noxious substance was sprayed at Mangle in Hackney, east London, injuring 20 people, reported the BBC. The police warned members of the public not to approach Collins but to call detectives if they spot him. They added that a raid was carried out on an address in Hertfordshire on Monday night in connection with the attack.

No arrests have been made and the attack isn’t thought to have been gang related. Officers said they believe the substance was sprayed after a dispute between two groups of people, the BBC reported.

Collins is thought to be the boyfriend of McCann, who has appeared on The Only Way Is Essex, I'm A Celebrity Get Me Out Of Here and This Morning. She urged him to cooperate with the police and hand himself in immediately.

"Ferne is aware that the police wish to speak to Arthur Collins and the nature of the accusations against him,” said a spokeswoman for McCann. "Obviously these are highly shocking and Ferne has co-operated with the police in their inquiries.

"She was not with Arthur on Sunday night, was not at Mangle, and has no direct knowledge of the events that unfolded,” added the spokeswoman.

"As much as anybody she wants to know the truth and urges Arthur to cooperate fully with the police and attend a police station immediately."

Two men aged 24 and 29 were seriously hurt in the attack and have been transferred to a specialist burns unit at a hospital in Essex. 12 others also received hospital treatment for their injuries.

A 20-year-old woman, who was also injured, told the BBC that the two men “couldn’t see”, and were "two black guys, but their faces were turned white because of the acid".

The atmosphere in the club quickly turned, "in the space of two minutes people went from dancing to the acid being thrown". She added: "I was standing by the bar and then I got hit by something that at first felt like water but then my arms started blistering.”

LoveJuice, the company behind the event, tweeted to say it was cooperating with the police investigation and could not offer further comment.

The police appeal came on the same day that McCann revealed in an interview with OK magazine her plan to marry Collins. The couple appear on the front cover of this week's issue in a joint photoshoot.