A SHOP manager who was scarred for life when acid was thrown in his face at the cinema said the jail time for his attacker is not enough.

Michael McPherson threw drain cleaner at Samir Hussain in the car park of the Cineworld in Crawley after leaving a late night screening of Straight Outta Compton.

The 27-year-old was yesterday jailed for eight years for grievous bodily harm with intent and assault.

He will serve half the time behind bars with 19 months he has already spent in custody taken into account.

Mr Hussain needed skin graft surgery at Queen Victoria Hospital in East Grinstead, has to wear a mask for two years and will be left with scars for the rest of his life.

The 28-year-old Three phone shop manager, said: “I doesn’t really make me feel better but I just need to move on.

“I hoped it would have been more. I have to live with this for the rest of my life. I’m not a bad person, I did not deserve this.”

“To say my life has been turned upside down is an understatement.

“I have been in physical pain ever since and I’m finding it difficult to cope with the psychological effects. I’m having sleepless nights. 

“There is no end in sight. I’m normally a sociable and outgoing person. My social life has ended. I cannot face having to answer questions. 

“When I look in the mirror I realise I have lost the most precious part of my identity.”

He and a male friend were watching the film on August 30, 2015, when someone threw sweets at them.

When they left at about 1am, McPherson, of Aldrington Road, Tooting Bec, London, and his friend Lee Bates confronted them in the car park and asked if they were a couple, Steven Talbot-Hadley, prosecuting, said.

Bates admitted he had been throwing the sweets then McPherson said: “You’ve seen a gangster movie, you can see gangsters now.”

Bates, 25, of Halston Close, Clapham, London, punched Mr Hussain in the face. He chased Bates and McPherson grabbed a bottle of drain cleaner from his car.

Mr Talbot-Hadley said: “His face started to burn immediately. He went straight back to the car and phoned for an ambulance before pouring a bottle of water over his face and right arm.”

Bates admitted common assault and was handed a two-year conditional discharge in February at Brighton Magistrates’ Court.

Alex Goudie, defending, said McPherson was “genuinely remorseful” but was impulsive and had anger problems, adding: “It was completely and utterly stupid and out of character.”

He has previous convictions for criminal damage, abuse behaviour and burglary.

Judge Guy Anthony, sentencing McPherson at Hove Crown Court, said: “There can be no excuse for throwing acid over the face of somebody, even if you believed your friend was being chased.”

He said he would be “failing in his public duty” if he did not imprison him.