Police f ind vital evidence in raid on alkali attack fugitive’s f lat
POLICE have released footage of the moment they raided a home in search of fugitive Abdul Ezedi and discovered crucial evidence.
Ezedi, 35, an Afghan sex offender, is suspected of a horrific chemical attack on a woman and her two daughters in Clapham, South West London, on Wednesday night. The 31-year-old victim – who suffered ‘life-changing’ injuries – is believed to have been in a relationship with her attacker.
Last night, Scotland Yard revealed police had raided two addresses in East London and three in Newcastle connected to Ezedi, where they found empty containers with corrosive warnings on the labels. Forensic tests are under way to see if the tubs contained the same alkaline substance used in the attack.
As the manhunt entered its fourth day, police urged the public to remain ‘vigilant’ and said they had already received dozens of possible sightings of Ezedi.
The fugitive was last seen on CCTV at King’s Cross Tube station on Wednesday night, boarding a southbound Victoria Line train. He had made no attempt to hide horrifying facial injuries sustained from the chemical he is said to have flung at his victims from a coffee cup.
A close relative of Ezedi told Sky News that he was in a relationship with the victim, who is now in a critical condition. Her two daughters, aged eight and three, sustained less serious injuries and are recovering well, police said.
Since the attack, it has emerged that Ezedi, who entered Britain in the back of a lorry in 2016, should have been deported after pleading guilty to sexual assault and indecent exposure in January 2018. He was handed a 36-week sentence, suspended for two years.
But he was granted asylum months after his sentence expired, in apparent breach of Home Office rules, after persuading a priest to back his claim that he had converted to Christianity and would be in danger if sent back to Afghanistan. Home Secretary James Cleverly is looking into the case following calls from Tory MPs to change the law to prevent the ‘legal merry-go-round’ that allowed him to remain in Britain after arriving illegally. The Church of England has said it is not aware Ezedi had any links to its parishes, with a spokesperson adding it is ‘the role of the Home Office, and not the church, to vet asylum seekers’.
Yesterday, a Royal Navy helicopter was seen circling the 800-acre Hampstead Heath in North London, apparently looking for the suspect. The manhunt involves the Met and Northumbria police forces, as well as British Transport Police and the National Crime Agency.
The Met’s Commander Jon Savell said Ezedi should not be approached, but added: ‘We have received dozens of calls with information, including possible sightings.’