The Metropolitan Police are facing questions about why vital images of the suspect in the Clapham South acid attack took so long to be published potentially helping Abdul Shokoor Ezedi evade capture.
Ezedi, 35, is accused of carrying out a ‘targeted’ attack on a mother and her two daughters, aged three and eight – believed to be known to him- on Wednesday night in Clapham, south London.
The manhunt for Ezedi has now entered day three after Met Police Superintendent Gabriel Cameron said the force was ‘wholeheartedly confident’ they would catch him.
Scotland Yard is working in collaboration with officers in Northumbria as Ezedi, who may have been known to police, ‘could be going back’ to Newcastle where he lived in a hostel on the city’s Wilfred Street.
A spokesman for the Metropolitan Police told MailOnline that it had been dealing with ‘a very traumatic incident in which three people and a number of police officers had been injured’ and that images were released ‘less than 24 hours after the incident.’
The horrific attack left the mother, who one witness said was ‘blinded’, and her youngest daughter with ‘life changing injuries’.
The elder child is also said to have suffered bruising and burn-like injuries. All three remain in hospital in a stable condition.
In the intervening days, Ezedi – who was seen fleeing from the scene – has been pictured around London with CCTV footage released last night showing him with severe burns to his face.
After the brutal attack, the suspect tried to drive off in his car but collided with a stationary vehicle.
He then fled on foot in the direction of Clapham Common. Nearby CCTV caught him sprinting through neighbouring streets in such a hurry that he stumbled on a speed bump before tripping on a kerb.
He was then seen buying a bottle of water in a north London Tesco, on Caledonian Road, in Islington, around an hour after the attack on Wednesday evening.
His exact path to Caledonian Road is not currently known.
Ezedi is a former asylum seeker from Afghanistan who was allowed to stay in the UK despite being convicted of a sexual offence, following two failed applications.
He was granted the right to stay in the UK on his third application in either 2020 or 2021, after a priest vouched that he had converted to Christianity.
He was handed a suspended sentence for the offence years earlier in 2018.
Police last night released CCTV footage of Ezedi buying a bottle of water in a north London Tesco, on Caledonian Road, in Islington, around an hour after the attack on Wednesday evening.
Police said Ezedi sustained ‘significant injuries’ in the attack, which officers say was ‘targeted’.
Prior to Wedneday’s events, Ezedi pleaded guilty to one charge of sexual assault and one of exposure, the Crown Prosecution Service has confirmed.
He was sentenced at Newcastle Crown Court on January 9, 2018, to a nine-week jail term suspended for two years for the sexual assault.
For the exposure he was given 36 weeks’ imprisonment to be served consecutively, which was also suspended for two years.
Former immigration minister Robert Jenrick has said that he expects the Home Secretary to carry out a ‘detailed review’ of how Abdul Ezedi was granted asylum.
Mr Jenrick, who quit the Government last year after pushing for a tougher approach to the Rwanda plan, told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme the case raises ‘very serious concerns’.
He said: ‘It appears from what little we know of this case, that this is an individual whose asylum or humanitarian protection in the UK was granted by a tribunal, so probably by a judge rather than Home Office officials, despite the fact that he had been convicted of a sexual offence and on the basis of evidence which, we shall have to see, may well be spurious or insubstantial, such as this suggestion that he had converted to Christianity.
‘I think we need to investigate the particular circumstances.
‘We shouldn’t jump to conclusions, and I would expect the Home Secretary to conduct a detailed review of what has happened and what may have gone seriously wrong in this case, and to put that information in the public domain, such is the public interest.’
He said he had long argued that ‘asylum seekers aided by legal representatives will make every possible argument to frustrate their removal, whether it’s to Rwanda or Albania or somewhere else’.
He added: ‘Some will be genuine, but the vast majority of those claims will not. Some are extremely difficult to prove or disprove, such as whether somebody has actually converted to Christianity.
‘They have a letter in their hand from a local vicar and the Government, as you know, have chosen to go down the path of enabling those individual appeals to continue. And the courts, as may well be proven in this case, are often extremely sympathetic – I would argue, naive – in dealing with those cases.’
Another vocal backbencher Sir John Hayes said he would be writing to Mr Cleverly to request a review.
He told the Telegraph: ‘This case provides an opportunity not only to review the criteria for granting asylum but also for how we deal with those who are known criminals.
‘It won’t take much working out who has been here and subsequently received asylum and then committed a crime, and how we can deport all of them.’
Commenting on the attack, Home Secretary James Cleverly said: ‘Wednesday’s attack on a mother and her two children in Clapham was appalling. My thoughts are with them and the brave members of the public and police who intervened.
‘I urge the public to support the Metropolitan Police’s appeal and to come forward if they have any information.
‘While a live investigation is ongoing, it would be inappropriate to comment further.’
Here is all we know about suspect Ezedi since he arrived in Britain.
2016
It has recently emerged that Ezedi is an Afghan refugee who arrived illegally in Britain in the back of a lorry. He had two applications for asylum rejected.
It is understood that he lived in run down hotels and halfway houses since his arrival from Afghanistan.
He has not been seen at his address in Newcastle for around six months, neighbours told MailOnline.
He was last known to be living in a shared terraced house in Dilston Road in the Arthur’s Hill area of the city.
Neighbours said the house had a high turnover of tenants and few remembered him.
MailOnline tonight revealed that Ezedi has more recently living in the Byker area of Newcastle in a hostel on the city’s Wilfred Street.
It is run by Tyne Housing Association which aims to find homes for people who are classed as homeless or vulnerable.
A resident said: ‘You’d see him walking around during the day, usually on his own and I don’t recall ever seeing him with a wife or partner.’
Tory MPs have since called for all asylum seekers who commit crimes in Great Britain to be deported and for the Government to reform its policies in the wake of the horrific attack.
2018
Two years after his asylum was rejected, Ezedi was convicted of a sexual assault/exposure offence at Newcastle Crown Court.
He was given a suspended sentence and an unpaid work order.
2020
Ezedi finishes his work unpaid work order and was discharged from probation supervision.
2021-22
It is understood Ezedi was granted asylum on a subsequent appeal – despite his criminal history – after getting a priest to vouch that he had converted to Christianity.
He said he was ‘wholly committed’ to his new religion.
Nigel Farage told MailOnline: ‘This is a huge wake up call. He should have been deported after the first asylum claim.’
Ezedi said it would endanger his life if he were to return to Afghanistan.
January 31 2024: 7.25pm
On Lessar Avenue, which is near Clapham Common in south London, a man was seen on CCTV footage running around a car which was stationary in the middle of the road.
Distressing footage from the scene showed the 31-year-old mother and her eight-year-old daughter standing in front of the man’s car holding their hands to their faces.
The suspect was then seen deliberately driving at the mother, hitting her before getting out of the car to haul a three-year-old girl out of the back seat.
Terrified witnesses described the suspect throwing the child ‘like a ragdoll’ above his head before smashing her down on the ground.
The woman was heard screaming, ‘my eyes, my eyes,’ as residents rushed over to help her.
The man is suspected of attacking the mother and her two daughters, aged three and eight, with an unknown alkaline substance.
Both the mother and her three-year-old suffered ‘life-changing injuries’.
The elder child, who was wearing her school uniform, is said to have suffered bruising and burn-like injuries. All three tonight remained in hospital.
One witness described the mother’s horrific injuries: ‘Her lips were completely black. Her face looked really burnt, like stripped off basically.’
After the brutal attack, the suspect tried to drive off in his car but collided with a stationary vehicle. He then fled on foot in the direction of Clapham Common.
Nearby CCTV caught him sprinting through neighbouring streets in such a hurry that he stumbled on a speed bump before tripping on a kerb.
Met Police Superintendent Gabriel Cameron said that it is believed the man and woman are known to each other.
January 31 2024: 8.48pm
The suspect later appeared at a Tesco store on Caledonian Road, Islington, dressed in a black hoodie and blue T-shirt.
It is the last known sighting of Ezedi, less than two hours after the attack.
Police released the CCTV snap of him last night.
‘The image shows Ezedi with what appears to be significant injuries to the right side of his face. This makes him distinctive,’ Supt Cameron said.
‘If you see Ezedi, call 999 immediately. He should NOT be approached.’
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John James
