A neighbour has described how Naomi Oni screamed, “I need to phone an ambulance, I need to phone an ambulance,” as she ran away from acid attacker Mary Konye.

Konye, convicted unanimously yesterday by a jury at Snaresbrook Crown Court, left Ms Oni permanently disfigured when she splashed sulphuric acid on her face on December 30, 2012.

Helen Porter, 48, who lives a few doors down from the house Ms Oni shared with her family in Bromhall Road at the time, said: “I heard screaming and I jumped out of my bed.

“I looked out of the window.

“As she [Ms Oni] came closer I heard her shout: ‘I need to phone an ambulance’. She kept repeating: ‘I need to phone an ambulance, I need to phone an ambulance,’ but I found it weird because she had shopping bags in her hand.

“Nothing like that usually happens here. I can’t believe anyone would do such a thing so I’m really pleased she’s been found guilty.

“It spooked me out so much that I moved to my mum’s for a couple of weeks. I’m really relieved she’s been found guilty, because I thought: ‘What’s the world coming to if that can happen at the top of your street?’

“I feel safer knowing a person who could do that is behind bars. It makes anyone who lives around here scared to step outside.”

Rebecca Amusam, 52, added: “I’m mainly relieved she’s been found guilty. I can’t understand why someone could do such a bitter thing.

“I feel for her [Ms Oni] on humanitarian grounds [because she has been] disfigured like that.”