Katie Piper given extra security by Strictly Come Dancing bosses as acid attacker is released from prison
The 2008 attack left TV presenter with severe scarring
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Your support makes all the difference.Katie Piper’s acid attacker was released from prison earlier this week, prompting extra security for the TV star.
The former model, who is taking part in Strictly Come Dancing this year, was left severely scarred after Stefan Sylvestre threw sulphuric acid at her in 2008.
He was acting on the orders of Ms Piper’s obsessed ex-boyfriend Daniel Lynch, who is serving a minimum of 16 years for the crime.
The acid attack left the presenter partially blind and with severe, permanent scarring across her face and body.
Sylvestre was given a minimum six-year jail term in 2009 but became eligible for parole in 2015, though he was then deemed unfit for release.
The Parole Board decided last month that Sylvestre now no longer poses a significant risk to the public despite hearing a personal plea from Ms Piper.
“I am trying to come to terms with this decision and this is something I need to deal with,” the TV presenter wrote in a response on Twitter.
He left Highpoint jail in Suffolk on Wednesday and was driven by police officers to a bail hostel in London, according to The Sun.
“Sylvestre’s licence conditions include an exclusion zone which bars him from an area around Katie’s address,” a source told the newspaper.
“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.”
Sylvestre, 30, will be forced to keep a nightly curfew and could be subjected to random drug tests.
He is also banned from contacting Lynch, who remains in prison.
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