THE MOST depressing story of this week, in the usual crowded field, was arguably the revelation that a young woman may have arranged for acid to be thrown in her own face.

Naomi Oni, 20, suffered horrific burns in the incident – said to be a random attack by a woman in a full Muslim veil – in London last year.

However, police have failed to spot anyone matching that description at the relevant time despite studying countless CCTV images.

They have also reportedly discovered that internet searches into acid attacks were made on Miss Oni’s laptop in the days before she was injured. These searches included the story of Katie Piper, a previously unknown model who was similarly attacked and subsequently built a television and media career on her resultant fame.

Miss Oni is sticking to her story and we must assume she is telling the truth until it is proved otherwise.

However, the very fact that we entertain such a notion – that a young woman might do such a thing for either compensation or, worse, for some kind of twisted celebrity – is a rather gloomy indictment of our society.

People often refer to the oxygen of publicity. Please let’s not start wandering into the darker corners of the periodic table.