Chemical attack suspect allowed to stay in UK despite criminal record
A man suspected of carrying out a chemical attack on a woman and her two young daughters had been allowed to stay in the UK even though he had a criminal conviction.
Abdul Ezedi, an Afghan national, was granted asylum by a judge who accepted that he was a Christian convert despite concerns that the sex offender was a liar, court records disclosed yesterday showed.
Ezedi’s body was pulled from the River Thames last month after he was suspected of dousing his ex-girlfriend with alkali when he pounced on her and her children, aged eight and three, in Clapham, south London, in January.
Documents from his lawyer in support of his asylum claim stated that Ezedi began attending Grange Road Baptist church in Jarrow, Tyne and Wear, in February 2016, did an Alpha course and was “baptised by total immersion” on 24 June 2018.
His conversion to Christianity and the role that played in his asylum claim sparked debate on the overall issue of the involvement of faith leaders in conversions and asylum applications.
In a ruling dated 10 November 2020, Judge W K O’Hanlon, sitting in the First-tier Tribunal (Immigration and Asylum Chamber), said: “Having considered all of the evidence before me in the round, notwithstanding my concerns as to the honesty of the appellant in relation to certain aspects of his account, I find that the appellant had been consistent in his evidence with regard to his conversion to Christianity.”
The documents also reveal that Ezedi made an agreement to be escorted at church services due to his convictions for sexual assault and exposure. He had to “stay in the vicinity” of an appointed male supporter during services and was not allowed to sit alone “at any time”.
Following publication of the documents, Baptists Together, a movement of more than 1,800 local churches of which Grange Road is one, said it “did not corporately support or sponsor” the asylum application and that the personal letter of support “commenting solely on Abdul Ezedi’s observed faith journey was written by a retired Baptist minister”.
Collingwood Immigration Services, a law firm in Newcastle, argued that the “evidence of his conversion is clear and cogent and has been over a considerable period of time”.
The law firm and the Catholic Diocese of Hexham and Newcastle were contacted for comment.