LOOSE Women star Katie Piper has opened up about her life since she was the victim of an acid attack – which left her disfigured back in 2008.
Her attacker was Stefan Sylvestre, who was just 19 at the time he committed the crime.
Who is Stefan Sylvestre?
Stefan Sylvestre was jailed in 2008 when he was just 19 years-old – after throwing acid at former model, Katie Piper.
He carried out the attack on the orders of her jealous ex-boyfriend Daniel Lynch, 39 – who is serving a minimum of 16 years in prison.
Sylvestre hurled sulphuric acid at Katie Piper in Golders Green, North London – leaving Katie partially blind and with severe scarring to her upper body.
Katie underwent 40 face operations to rebuild her face.
On Tuesday, August 16, 2022 – Katie Piper told the Loose Women panel her ‘Life Before Loose’ story.
She spoke of how her world changed drastically after the acid attack which left her disfigured and recalled the abuse she endured during her recovery.
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Katie also spoke fondly of happy childhood growing up in Hampshire, her teenage rebellious years and moving to London.
Talking to panellists Christine Lampard, Coleen Nolan and Janet Street-Porter, Katie said:
”When I look back on it and reflect, it does feel like two separate lives. I’m 38, but I sort of feel in my 70s or 80s.
”Because what’s happened to me, I’ve condensed so much into such a short period, and that happen to some people in their whole lifetime.
”In some ways you can take that as a positive – life experiences enrich us, they build our character and we can go onto use that in our future, but in other ways it was a lot.
”It took its toll on me mentally and physically. Some of the physical changes are still ongoing in my medical journey.”
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Sylvestre became eligible for parole in 2015 but his application was blocked after he was deemed unfit for release.
A later parole application in 2018 was successful and he was released from Highpoint jail, Suffolk, on Wednesday, October 10 – he was then driven 70 miles south by police to a bail hostel in London.
A source told The Sun: “Sylvestre’s licence conditions include an exclusion zone which bars him from an area around Katie’s address.
“Any attempt to go near the Strictly studios in Hertfordshire would almost certainly also see him returned straight to jail.
“But although Sylvestre is banned from contacting Katie in any way, the simple fact that he’s back in London will be of great concern to her.”
However, he was later jailed again in 2019 for a different offence.
How long was Katie Piper’s acid attacker sentenced to prison for?
Sylvestre was given a life sentence with a minimum of six years in 2008 for the attack and spent a decade in prison, before being released on Wednesday, October 10, 2018.
The parole board ruled that Sylvestre no longer posed a significant threat and noted a ‘behaviour change’ in the attacker.
However, in 2019 he was again was recalled to prison over an allegation of using a work van without permission.
On March 12, 2022 – he appeared via video-link at City of London Magistrates’ Court from HMP Pentonville.
Sylvestre didn’t deny that he was driving the vehicle but instead claimed that he had permission from his recruitment consultant at McGinley – the company where he was working.
However, due to an error by the prosecution, after they revealed they had misplaced the timesheets which would provide important evidence – Sylvestre was cleared of 16 charges of taking a motor vehicle without consent.
In 2020, a parole board panel gave the green light for his release.
