Clapham attack - live: New image of fugitive in manhunt after mother and girls injured in London

2 Feb 2024 • 8:09 AM MYT
The Independent
The Independent

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A large manhunt is under way for a suspect who threw an alkaline substance at a mother and her two children, leaving her and one daughter with potentially life-changing injuries.

A CCTV image of Abdul Shokoor Ezedi, taken when he bought water in a Tesco afterwards, has since been released showing him with severe burn marks down the right-hand side of his face.

And on Thursday night it emerged that Ezedi was convicted of a sexual offence in 2018, before being granted asylum in the UK in 2021 or 2022 from his native Afghanistan. The 35-year-old had twice previously been refused asylum.

In all, 12 people needed hospital treatment after the “targeted” attack in Lessar Avenue, Clapham, south London, on Wednesday evening.

Ezedi who is believed to be known to the mother, is thought to have travelled down from Newcastle on Wednesday, and could be heading back there, said Supt Gabriel Cameron.

The woman, 31, described as vulnerable, and her three-year-old daughter, were still in hospital alongside her other daughter, eight.

Ezedi, who also threw the younger child to the ground, was later spotted on CCTV in Caledonian Road, north London, where he went to a Tesco.

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