Senior district prosecutor, Rachael Scott, said the attack was “truly horrific”.
“Danny suffered the most horrific injuries having endured 10 operations and losing the sight in his eye,” she said.
“It was a orchestrated, you could almost say, an execution of Danny because of this outstanding drug debt.”
Norton said Cahalane suffered “significant corrosive injuries”.
“For most if not all of the weeks between the assault and his death, he would have been in significant pain,” she said.
Det Supt Rachael Bentley from Devon and Cornwall Police said it was a “particularly barbaric attack on a man in his own home”.
“Despite for a time successfully fighting off his attackers, Danny must have been terrified,” she said.
“Acid attacks remain rare in Devon and Cornwall but are a particularly cowardly and devastating means of violence.”
