Katie Piper’s acid attacker is on the run from police after being recalled to jail for breaching his licence conditions.
Stefan Sylvestre was paroled in 2020, 11 years after the sick assault, and has been warned he faces more time in jail after going AWOL while on licence.
The thug, who left former model Katie Piper with horrific injuries, was in the process of being recalled to prison for breaching his conditions when he went on the run form police.
A Probation Service spokesman said: “We are urgently working with the police to bring the offender back to prison where he’ll face longer behind bars.”
Sylvestre attacked Katie in Golders Green, North London, with acid in 2008, on the orders of her obsessive former boyfriend Daniel Lynch.
He was just 19 at the time. In 2009, he was sentenced to life with a minimum of six years.
Sylvestre became eligible for parole in 2015 but his application was blocked after he was deemed unfit for release.
A further application in 2018 was successful and he was freed but ordered to stay away from Katie, 38.
But in 2019 he was recalled to prison over an unrelated incident. Sylvestre got parole again in 2020 and was released after prosecution errors came to light.
By then he had married mum-of-one Danielle Burke while in jail.
Katie, who was awarded an OBE for charity and burns services, was attacked on the orders of her obsessive former boyfriend Daniel Lynch. He was jailed for life with a minimum of 16 years and cannot be considered for release until 2025.
The attack left Katie needing 400 operations to treat her burns. In her victim impact statement, she said: “When the acid was thrown at me, it felt like I was burning in hell. It was an indescribable, unique, torturous pain.
“I have lost my future, my career, my spirit, my body, my looks, my dignity…the list goes on. All I am left with is an empty shell. A part of me has died that will never come back. This is worse than death.”
But she has since rebuilt her life and featured on numerous TV shows, including a documentary in 2009 about the impact of the attack, and Strictly in 2018.
It was during that show she first learned Sylvestre was to be released.
The presenter said: “This is a really difficult time for me. I am trying to come to terms with the decision and this is something I need to deal with.
“Over the past two weeks Strictly has already given me such a welcome and positive distraction from my past.
“Whilst there is never a good time to hear this news, I am glad I have this new journey to concentrate on.”
She launched the Katie Piper Foundation to raise awareness of the plight of burns survivors and other disfigurement injuries.
Katie has two daughters with carpenter husband Richard Sutton, who she married in 2015.
