A fugitive wanted for a chemical attack on a mum and her two young daughters is a convicted sex offender.
Abdul Shokoor Ezedi, 35, allegedly hurled a corrosive liquid at the woman, who was known to him, and the girls, aged eight and three. The "targeted" assault injured nine others, including police officers.
The 31-year-old mum screamed "I can't see, I can't see" after being doused with an alkaline substance at 7.25pm last night on Lessar Avenue, next to Clapham Common in south London. The woman and her three-year-old daughter were rushed to hospital where they remain with injuries thought to be "life-changing".
It can be revealed that Ezedi was convicted of a sexual offence at Newcastle Crown Court in 2018. He was handed a suspended sentence for "sexual assault/exposure" with an unpaid work order, a source said. It is understood that this was completed in 2020 when Ezedi was discharged from probation supervision.
A police officer at the scene (Marcin Nowak/LNP)Police said he "may have" been known to them prior to the incident and warned the public not to approach him. They stressed that they "will catch him".
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Bus driver Shannon Christi, 35, revealed how she raced from her flat after hearing screaming to rescue the three-year-old. And she told how her partner chased the suspect from the scene - wearing slippers.
The mum-of-three, who needed hospital treatment after contact with the chemical, said: "I heard a lot of shouting and a bang and I heard screaming. I saw the girl being thrown to the floor, she had been pulled out and thrown again on the floor. At that point I ran in and grabbed her.
"I heard mum shouting, ‘I can’t see, I can’t see’. I got it on my lips and at that point my skin started to tingle. Me and the little girl went in to wash my arms, eyes and face.”
She added: "My partner chased the guy half way down the street but he was wearing slippers. I’m a mother with three children. My youngest is two so I felt like I had to get in and do something. I’d step in again if I had to.”
A local resident claimed it was a “domestic incident” and the victim was at the nearby Belvedere Hotel Clapham South, which houses homeless people and asylum seekers.
The woman, who did not want to be named, said: “As I understand it, it was a domestic incident. We had helicopters circling, dogs were out, they told us not to leave our houses." Clapham South Belvedere Hotel confirmed guests at the hotel were victims.
Forensic officers gathering evidence after the incident (Marcin Nowak/LNP)Speaking to reporters this afternoon, Supt Gabriel Cameron, said of Ezedi: "We are now naming the man we want to speak to as Abdul Shokoor Ezedi, who is aged 35. We believe he travelled down from Newcastle earlier that day. We don’t know yet what led to it. We’re working to establish the circumstances.
“A manhunt to trace Ezedi is under way. We are working with partner agencies and forces including the British Transport Police to locate and arrest him. If you see Ezedi, call 999 immediately. He should NOT be approached.
He has significant injuries to the right side of the face. We will catch him. I am wholeheartedly confident... We will catch the male."
Ezedi was last seen in Caledonian Road in north London on Thursday, officers said. He is believed to have made the 280 mile trip from his home in Newcastle to London on Wednesday. Police suspect he could be heading back to Newcastle.
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Both Northumbria Police and the British Transport Police are helping the Metropolitan Police with the manhunt. Officers have also confirmed a car involved in the attack belonged to Ezedi, while the substance used in the attack was alkaline.
Ezedi was last known to be living in a shared terraced house in the Arthur’s Hill area of Newcastle. Neighbours said the house had a high turnover of tenants and few remembered him.
Superintendent Gabriel Cameron addressed the media on Lesser Avenue, near Clapham Common (PA)However Mohammad Hussain Nazary, 24, who works in his family’s food shop said he recalled Ezedi living in the area but assumed he was a single man. He said: “I’d see him around the area and he’d come in from time to time. He’s an Afghan and I assumed he was single because I never saw him with a partner or family, he was always on his own. He seemed like an ordinary harmless guy, certainly not someone you’d associate with something like this. He was around quite a lot but I haven’t seen him in maybe six or seven months.”
A neighbour said: “There are a lot of long term residents in the street but also a couple of houses where tenants come and go all the time and that house is one of them. There are new people moving in very regularly , you can’t keep track of who is living there.”
Another address in Newcastle that Ezedi is linked to is a hostel on Wilfred Street in the Heaton area of the city.
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