Chemical attack suspect had a relationship with the victim

THE suspect in the Clapham chemical attack had been in a relationship with the mother who was injured, police have said.

Cmdr Jon Savell, from the Metropolitan Police, said the breakdown of the relationship could be a motive for the attack on a street in south London.

Police have said that the facial injuries suffered by Abdul Ezedi, 35, in the attack could be fatal if left untreated.

Officers were set to return to the scene of the attack yesterday evening, a week after a 31-year-old woman and her two children, aged eight and three, were doused with a corrosive liquid.

Mr Savell told journalists that the massive manhunt for Ezedi was “an incredibly high priority attempted murder investigation”. Turning to potential motives, he said: “They were in a relationship and that relationship had broken down.”

The latest confirmed sighting of Ezedi on CCTV is on Vauxhall Bridge Road at around 11pm on the night of the attack, Jan 31.

The woman who was attacked remains sedated in hospital and is still too ill to speak to detectives.

She had agreed to meet Ezedi on the night of the attack, and she and her children were in a car with him when they were injured, police said.

The police disclosures come as new video footage of Ezedi was released showing him passing the Unilever building and heading towards Victoria Embankment and on to Temple before passing Westminster Pier and Westminster. He is later spotted heading towards Westminster Bridge and then towards the London Eye and on to Albert Embankment, approaching Vauxhall Bridge, before crossing Vauxhall Bridge Road and on to Grosvenor Road.

Hundreds of calls have been received from the public with possible sightings of the suspect, who was initially using his bank card to travel around on the Tube network.

The Afghan refugee’s route appears to broadly follow the River Thames, and investigators say they are keeping an open mind about whether he had jumped or been pushed into the water.

Ezedi arrived in Britain illegally in 2016 having stowed away on a lorry. His application for asylum failed twice before he allegedly converted to Christianity, after which his third asylum application was approved.

Darius Nasimi, from the charity the Afghanistan and Central Asian Association, also appealed for anyone in the community who may be sheltering him to contact police.

‘It is an attempted murder investigation ... they were in a relationship and that had broken down’