Alkali victim blind in one eye, say police, as attacker’s body is found in Thames
POLICE hunting for chemical attacker Abdul Ezedi have recovered his body from the River Thames as it emerged his horrific assault has left a mother blind in one eye.
The Afghan-born asylum seeker was wanted for attacking his former lover and her two children with an alkali substance at Clapham in south London.
The convicted sex offender, 35, who burnt his own face in the sickening assault on January 31, was last seen alive on CCTV hours after the attack leaning over Chelsea Bridge in west London. Scotland Yard said two weeks ago that detectives believed he had gone into the river.
Commander Jon Savell yesterday confirmed that a body wearing Ezedi’s distinctive clothing had been pulled from the water. He said: ‘Because of the amount of time the body has been in the water, it has not been obvious to do an easy visual identification, or indeed to get immediate fingerprints.
‘However, with the very distinctive clothing that was being worn, and the property that we’ve found on the body, we are able to strongly believe that this is Abdul Ezedi.’
Commander Savell revealed a passenger boat spotted the body at 4pm on Monday.
Ezedi doused his victims with a corrosive substance and friends said the 31-year-old mother had been left partially blind.
They said in a statement: ‘We know mum’s lost her sight in one eye and we’re praying that it returns fully in the other. Our friend is a phenomenal mum and the strongest, most
‘Not easy to do a visual identification’
independent person we know. She’s making so much progress and is determined to get out of hospital as quickly as possible.’
More than £44,000 has been raised for the woman and her two children, aged eight and three.
The friends added: ‘Physically and mentally, there is a very, very long road ahead for her and the girls.
‘Like so many of us, the family were really struggling to make ends meet before the attack, so we just want their recovery to not be compounded by financial fears.
‘We know times are tough and the level of support so far means the world. Every donation helps and sends a powerful message against this evil attack.
‘We kindly ask anyone reading this to consider donating even the cost of a coffee to show mum and the girls that the wider community has their back and they can feel safe again.’
Mr Savell said the woman remains in hospital in a stable condition and is no longer sedated.
He added: ‘We have still not been able to speak to her but hope to as soon as she is well enough.’
Ezedi, a pizza shop worker who lived in Newcastle, came to Britain hidden in a lorry in 2016 and was twice turned down for asylum before making a successful appeal by claiming he had converted to Christianity.
He was convicted of two sexual offences in 2018 but was allowed to stay in the UK because his crimes were not serious enough to meet the threshold for deportation.
A tribunal judge is understood to have ruled in favour of his asylum claim in 2020 after a retired Baptist church minister confirmed that Ezedi was ‘wholly committed’ to his new religion.