A TOTTENHAM teenager who poured caustic soda over his schoolgirl victim after raping her will face nine years in jail.

Rogel McMorris, 18, the central figure in the horrific case according to the prosecution, was sentenced today for his role in the gang-rape of a sixteen-year-old girl at an abandoned flat in Anthill Road, Tottenham, last January.

He had previously been found guilty of luring her to an empty house before forcing her to have oral and vaginal sex with him and up to nine others.

Two of his friends, Jason Brew, 18, from Tottenham, and Hector Muaimba, 20, from Walthamstow, were handed six and eight year prison sentences respectively at Wood Green Crown Court today. Muaimba was additionally sentenced for his role in a robbery.

After the one-and-a-half-hour ordeal, which was filmed on a mobile phone, McMorris continued to humiliate and torment the teenager, who has severe learning difficulties, by throwing washing powder at her. He then scoured the property for something to assault her with.

He found a tub of caustic soda granules under the kitchen sink, marked corrosive, which he poured over her naked body before running away in fits of laughter. The chemical burned through the flesh on her face, genitals, buttocks, back, chest and armpits.

The vulnerable teenager was found naked and screaming by a neighbour who called an ambulance.The shock to her body put her in a coma for several weeks.

The attack has left her unable to regulate her own body temperature and damage has already been caused to her spine.

She suffered extreme post-traumatic stress and is still undergoing extensive reconstructive surgery and is at risk of self-harm or, worse, suicide, the court heard.

Sentencing Judge Shaun Lyons said he had to balance the severity of the attack while operating within legal guidelines.

Judge Lyons said: “The life of this girl changed irretrievably on January 9 last year.

“The most severe injuries followed the attack with caustic soda. She has been left with severe post-traumatic stress disorder and scarring to 50 per cent of her body. It is doubtful what form her life will take and whether she will ever be able to operate fully as a young woman.”

From a statement read aloud in court, the victim, who cannot be named, said: “I have tried to forgive them for what they have done, but it is so hard. I have to think about what has happened. At this stage I don’t know where to begin. I hope one day they will feel sorry for what they have done to me.”

She said the attack isolated her from her friends, and she is petrified of returning to Tottenham.

Ten arrests were made at the start of the investigation. Eight men initially stood trial before charges were dropped against two of them on grounds of insufficient evidence.

Detective Constable Alex Newton, the officer on the case, said: “This has been one of the hardest cases we have ever dealt with at Haringey.

“There are men who were involved that we have never been able to speak to. We went into the community looking for witnesses and people did not want to talk. It would have been great to see all those involved in the dock today. But we presented our case, with the Crown, and the jury made their decision.

“I am pleased with the sentence. As far as rape sentences go, it was on the lower end of the higher scale.”

Speaking outside the court, in Lordship Lane, the victim’s uncle said: “I have no feelings about the sentence. Nothing, no sentence, could ever repair the damage this has caused to our family.

“We were here today to see some sort of justice done for our niece.”

In a statement, the victim’s father thanked the police, doctors, and social services, MP David Lammy, and members of the family's church for their support.

“The past twelve months have been a very difficult time for us," he said. "The trauma, stress, depression and hopelessness have all been too difficult to bear."