A 22-year-old man has been arrested and released on bail on suspicion of aiding Abdul Shookor Ezedi, the alleged perpetrator of an alkali attack in Clapham. Ezedi has been on the run since a woman and her two daughters were injured in the attack in south London. The Metropolitan Police have reported a new sighting of Ezedi in the Southwark Bridge area. The woman injured in the attack remains in hospital and may lose sight in her right eye.
Ezedi is not the father of the woman’s children, and their injuries are not as severe as initially thought. Five police officers and four members of the public were also injured during the incident. The 22-year-old man was arrested for assisting an offender and was later released on bail after being interviewed at a south London police station.
Police are investigating two main possibilities regarding Ezedi’s whereabouts: that he has been harmed or that someone is hiding him. Ezedi, a convicted sex offender believed to be from Afghanistan, was last seen on CCTV in the Southwark Bridge area. The investigation is focused on London and Newcastle, with police forces nationwide on high alert. The Metropolitan Police have offered a £20,000 reward for information leading to Ezedi’s capture.
Ezedi, who has a serious injury that could make him more recognizable, was living in Newcastle before the attack and is believed to have entered the UK from Afghanistan in 2016. He travelled to London from Newcastle on the day of the attack. A strong corrosive substance was found in his Newcastle flat. Ezedi was granted asylum after two failed attempts and was allowed to stay in the UK after converting to Christianity.
The Catholic Church in the North East of England has confirmed that Ezedi was a client of a charitable project it runs but stated that they have no record of him converting to Catholicism within their diocese. Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has not commented on whether immigration laws should be changed in light of reports suggesting religious conversions may be used to support asylum applications.
