HENRY COUNTY, Ga. — A metro Atlanta man who intentionally threw drain cleaner in his woman’s face and permanently disfigured her was found guilty by a jury and was sentenced to 20 years in prison.
Andrew Fordham, 44, was convicted of two counts of aggravated battery when he disfigured his then-girlfriend’s, Christy Sims’, face with industrial strength drain cleaner in April 2013.
Worst, Sims suffered third-degree burns over her face, upper chest, arms and back and is not even recognizable to the person she used to look like, the AJC reports. When Fordham completes his prison term, he will be on probation for an additional 20 years.
Sims told the court that Fordham purposely tossed the acid-filled drain clearner  in her face because she was breaking up with him.
After interviewing Fordham, the Henry County police ruled the case an accident. But Sims was able to convince the police to reopen their investigation into the case.
Sims said Fordham called her into the bathroom to bring him a towel.
When she arrived in the doorway, she said he was standing in a pool of water and holding a bowl. In the brief seconds that it took her brain to process the scene, he threw the fluid in her face.
“He didn’t actually fall, he just jerked forward and took the bowl and doused it in my face,” Sims recalled.
Screaming in pain, Sims ran to the sink to rinse off her face. “Please call 911, please call 911,” Sims yelled to him as he mumbled something about an accident. “We were just putting it in the toilet and we slipped,” Fordham told the 911 operator.
The 911 operator repeatedly told Fordham to put Sims in the shower, but he ignored her advice.
Fordham lied and told Sims the operator wanted her to sit down and not to rinse her face with water.
“I don’t think he was trying to kill me, I think he was trying to make me unattractive because he doused it right in my face,” Sims said.
The drain cleaner contained 100% sulfuric acid, capable of melting flesh down to the bone.
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