Clapham chemical attacker won asylum in the UK despite being a convicted sex offender, a judge doubting his account and failing a test on Christianity while claiming to be a convert

The Clapham chemical attacker won asylum in spite of his repeated dishonesty, it can be revealed today.

Abdul Ezedi, 35, failed a test on Christianity even though he claimed to be a convert.

The asylum judge who heard the sex offender’s appeal to stay in the UK decided he had ‘not been honest in several aspects of his account’.

In spite of those concerns, Judge William O’Hanlon allowed Ezedi’s appeal on asylum and human rights grounds, saying on balance his religious conversion was genuine. His body was found in the Thames last month, ending a massive police hunt after he attacked a mother and her children with an alkali substance in January.

Court papers released to the Mail raise further questions about Ezedi’s claim to have converted to Christianity – with him at one point saying in Home Office documents that the Old Testament was about Jesus Christ. 

They also showed the Baptist Church, which supported his claim for asylum, requested he sign a ‘safeguarding contract’ preventing him from entering the church alone following his 2018 sex assault and exposure conviction.

The documents have only now been released after the Mail led a media fight to uncover the full extent of Ezedi’s dodgy claims. And the BBC reported last night that Ezedi was given a Muslim funeral and burial in London at the request of his family and friends.

The released documents show that:

• Ezedi sent the asylum and immigration tribunal photos of his baptism and handing out leaflets in a bid to help his claim;
• He was supported by a Baptist minister who attended court four times to advocate for asylum seekers;
• In an earlier Home Office interview Ezedi could not answer basic questions about Christianity.

First Tier Tribunal Judge O’Hanlon granted Ezedi asylum on his third appeal in November 2020 on the basis he would be at risk of persecution if he was returned to Afghanistan.

The judge conceded Ezedi had been discredited on multiple occasions, but allowed the appeal on the strength of the ‘most compelling evidence’ from a Baptist Church minister.

Reverend Roy Merrin, the now retired minister at Grange Road Baptist Church, in Jarrow, Tyne and Wear, wrote to the tribunal in support of Ezedi. He also told the panel in person in October 2020 he was aware of fraudulent asylum claims but believed Ezedi was honest.

Rev Merrin said ‘Abdul has established a good relationship with the other Church members and is always willing to help’. He added: ‘Abdul has been ready to share his faith in Christ with non-Christians … I would support his application to remain] in this country.’

Ezedi was also supported by the Catholic Church in a letter sent from the Dioceses of Hexham and Newcastle Justice and Peace Refugee Project.

In his judgment Judge O’Hanlon criticised Ezedi’s repeated deceit but accepted Rev Merrin’s evidence that his conversion was genuine. He said: ‘It is the case that I find the appellant has not been honest in several aspects of his account referred to herein. I remind myself of the fact that the appellant may not have been honest about certain aspects of his claim does not necessarily mean that he is lying about other matters, in this case his claimed Christian conversion.

‘Having considered all the evidence before me in the round, notwithstanding my concerns as to the honesty of the appellant in relation to certain aspects of his account, I find the appellant had been consistent in his evidence with regard to his conversion to Christianity.’

Ezedi said he had converted to Christianity only after his first asylum appeal had been rejected in 2017. He later claimed to have ‘forgotten’ the detail.

When asked ‘What was created on the third day’, Ezedi said: ‘Good Friday and Easter Sunday and Resurrection day’. The Bible tells how dry land, seas, planets and trees were created by God on the third day.

Mistakes in Ezedi’s Home Office interview were later blamed by his legal team on a translator.

Concerns about his honesty were raised after Ezedi claimed to be a Shia Muslim – although a judge at another hearing found Ezedi had worshipped as a Sunni for ‘many years’. He also said his brother was shot and killed when the Taliban bombed his home, in Afghanistan. But it was later pointed out he previously claimed he was shot at a mosque.

The safeguarding contract drawn up by the Baptist Church also demonstrated the level of insight the church had into Ezedi’s criminality. One section of the seven-point contract banned Ezedi from entering the church in Jarrow ‘without one of my male supporters being present’, confirming ‘I shall not sit alone in the church at any time’.

Last night sources close to Home Secretary James Cleverly said churches had suffered damage to their reputations by initially denying they had contact with Ezedi. One said: ‘That reputational risk is only amplified by the fact some who denied knowledge of Ezedi at the time had in fact known of him within their church, and had supported and vouched for him.’

A spokesman for the Baptist Union of Great Britain said: ‘Baptists Together did not corporately support or sponsor Abdul Ezedi’s asylum application. ‘A personal letter of support commenting solely on Abdul Ezedi’s observed faith journey was written by a retired Baptist minister.

‘The safeguarding contract was a separate issue and was agreed between the church and Abdul Ezedi with guidance from local and regional safeguarding leads using our national template document of the time.’

A spokesman for the Catholic Church downplayed its role, saying it wrote a letter for Ezedi ‘to assist with support from other agencies’ and not as part of an asylum claim.

Rev Merrin said last night: ‘I’m sorry I can’t help you.’

Additional reporting: Josh White