The Daily Telegraph - Saturday
Clapham suspect ‘drowned in Thames’
Police believe Abdul Ezedi went into river after chemical attack
THE suspect in the Clapham chemical attack drowned in the Thames after falling from Chelsea Bridge, police believe.
Abdul Ezedi had been on the run after a 31-year-old woman and her two children, aged three and eight, were doused with an alkali substance in south-west London last Wednesday.
The 35-year-old, who suffered significant facial injuries in the attack, was last seen on CCTV peering over the railings of the bridge just before 11:30pm that night.
There have been no further sightings since then, police confirmed yesterday, and he was not seen walking off the bridge.
A nationwide manhunt was launched after Ezedi, a convicted sex offender, allegedly attacked the woman, with whom he had been in a relationship. A 22-year-old man was arrested on suspicion of assisting an offender and officers raided two addresses linked to Ezedi in Newcastle in the early hours of Thursday.
However, detectives now say that Ezedi never left the capital and most likely died the night of the attack.
Immediately after the incident at 7:25pm on Lessar Avenue, Ezedi fled on to the Tube, travelling to King’s Cross, where he bought a bottle of water.
From there he got a Victoria Line train southbound to Victoria Station. He then boarded a District Line train eastbound at 9:16pm before emerging above ground at Tower Hill.
Det Supt Rick Sewart said Ezedi had walked with purpose after leaving the Tube and had “essentially hugged the river”, heading west again. He added: “When he got to the area of Chelsea Bridge his behaviour visibly appeared to change. He walks up and down the bridge, he pauses in the midpoint of the bridge, and he walks sort of to and from the side of the bridge and can be seen to lean over the railings before there is a loss of sight.”
Det Supt Sewart said that a behavioural scientist had analysed Ezedi’s manner shortly before he was last seen, and detectives were confident he had entered the water from the bridge.
The force said that it could be months before Ezedi’s body was found.
Commander Jon Savell said it was possible they may never find it.
“At this time of year, the Thames is very fast flowing, very wide and full of lots of snags. It is quite likely that if he has gone in the water, he won’t appear for maybe up to a month and it’s not beyond possibility that he may never actually surface.”