Kate Elizabeth Sutton OBE (née Piper; born October 12 1983, in Andover, Hampshire) is an English writer, activist, television presenter, and model. Her ex-boyfriend and an accomplice attacked her with acid in March 2008, causing significant damage to her face and blindness in one eye. Piper had groundbreaking surgery to restore her face and vision. Both attackers were convicted and sentenced to life in prison. One of the attackers was released in 2018 after serving nine years. Piper gave up her right to anonymity in 2009 in order to raise awareness about burn victims. Her story was told in the 2009 Channel 4 documentary Katie: My Beautiful Face, part of the Cutting Edge series. It has since been sold on a global scale.
Katie Piper Before and After
Katie began a relationship with Daniel Lynch in February 2008 after the two began messaging on Facebook. However, the relationship quickly devolved into a nightmare. He raped Katie before ordering a sickening acid attack on her. Lynch had ordered Katie to go to a nearby internet cafe, but it was a set-up.
Lynch, unbeknownst to Katie, had arranged for an accomplice, Stefan Sylvestre, to stand outside her flat and spit sulphuric acid in her face. Katie was rushed to Chelsea and Westminster Hospital for emergency treatment following the attack, as the acid had severely burned her face and left eye. She has induced a coma for 12 days and required skin graft procedures.
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Katie Piper’s Early Life
Piper was born to David and Diane Piper in Andover, Hampshire, and attended Harrow Way School and Portway Junior School as a child. She has a brother named Paul and a younger sister named Suzy. Piper trained as a beautician after graduating from high school, hoping to capitalise on her love of fashion and beauty and follow in the footsteps of her father, a barber.
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What Happened to Katie’s Attackers?
The attack was captured on CCTV, and Sylvestre, who threw the acid at Katie, was arrested shortly after. Lynch was later apprehended, and both were sentenced to life in prison. His application to the parole board was granted in 2018. Sylvestre became available on Wednesday, October 10, 2018.
Sylvestre was recalled to prison 13 months later, but he was later cleared of taking vehicles without consent, and a parole board determined that he could be released in 2020. Lynch was awarded nearly £200,000 in taxpayer-funded legal aid in November 2018. On October 10, 2022, police issued an urgent search warrant for Stefan Sylvestre.
He is currently on the run after being recalled to prison for violating the terms of his licence. “We are urgently working with the police to bring the offender back to prison where he will face longer behind bars,” a Probation Service spokesman said.
Katie’s Career Foundations
Piper then began a modelling career, participating in various fashion, glamour, and promotional photoshoots, as well as modelling for national newspapers. She also began working as a promotional model, appearing and performing publicity at live events such as martial arts matches.
Piper also worked as a digital television presenter, primarily on web TV shows and features, as well as on small digital television channels specialising in shopping and live chat. Piper moved away from her family home in Hampshire and began living with friends in a flat in Golders Green, North London, as her career progressed.
Katie’s Personal Life
Katie Piper established the Katie Piper Foundation near the end of 2009 to raise awareness of the plight of victims of burns and other disfigurement injuries: the charity also campaigns for the specialist treatment Piper received, such as the after-care scheme implemented in France, to be more widely available to patients in the United Kingdom.
Following her recovery and the successful establishment of the Katie Piper Foundation, Piper returned to living alone in London, a process documented in episodes of Katie: My Beautiful Face; she later moved in with her carpenter partner Richard Sutton.
