Dramatic moment cops in hazmat suits raid home as hunt continues for Clapham ‘chemical attack fugitive’ Abdul Ezedi
Convicted sex offender Ezedi was granted asylum on his third attempt
THIS is the dramatic moment cops in hazmat suits raided a home – as the hunt continues for alleged Clapham chemical attack fugitive Abdul Ezedi.
Ezedi, 35, from Newcastle, is still at large after 12 people were injured in the horror attack on Wednesday evening.
In the early hours of this morning officers hunting Ezedi raided an address in Leyton, east London.
Snaps show cops wearing hazmat suits and PPE face masks, as an apparent precaution against dangerous chemicals.
A source said that a large number of cops swarmed the Leyton address just before 2am, smashing down doors.
The London Fire Brigade said it was called at 1.47am and that firefighters stayed at the scene until 5.29am.
Manhunt cops are urging people not to approach “dangerous” fugitive Ezedi.
The chemical attack suspect allegedly doused a mum and her young kids with a corrosive liquid, then tried to run her over.
Members of the public and cops were also burned as they rushed to the family’s aid.
Witnesses have told how after the horrific attack the woman staggered blindly along the street wailing: “I can’t see. I can’t see.”
The vulnerable victim — believed to have been living in hiding from Afghan refugee Abdul Ezedi — was targeted in Clapham on Wednesday evening.
Now it has been revealed that Ezedi arrived in the UK in a lorry and failed to claim asylum.
However, he then converted to Christianity and was accepted on his third attempt with a priest as a character witness.
Ezedi pleaded guilty to one charge of sexual assault and one of exposure before he was granted asylum, 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.
TRACKED DOWN
For the exposure he was given 36 weeks’ imprisonment to be served consecutively, which was also suspended for two years.
Just before 7.30pm on Wednesday a row broke out which spilled into a residential street near Clapham Common, South West London.
Ezedi is believed to have tracked his victim down to the two-star Clapham South Belvedere Hotel, where she was staying with her daughters aged eight and three in a local council-provided room.
The suspect is thought to have grabbed the youngest child and put her in the back of a white car.
As the mum and older daughter tried to intervene, he then threw an alkaline substance, believed to be oven cleaner, at them.
Shocking CCTV footage shows the man running around the car and slamming shut a rear door before getting into the driver’s seat.
The woman and her daughter can be seen reaching out for each other with one hand while clutching their eyes with the other.
At one point the suspect drives at the woman who throws her arms into the air.
He then jumped out the car and grabbed the three-year-old before throwing her down on the ground twice “like a rag doll.”
The suspect got back into the motor but crashed into a parked car and fled the scene, pursued by members of the public.
Others who raced to help the family suffered burns themselves.
Mum-of-three Shannon Christie, who lives in a block of flats at the end of the road, was scorched by the corrosive liquid as she went to the rescue of the youngest child.
Bus driver Shannon, 35, said: “I heard the commotion and ran out.
‘HORRENDOUS’
“I saw a little girl being thrown to the floor. At that point, I ran in and grabbed her off the floor.
“I heard her mum shouting ‘I can’t see, I can’t see’. So I called my partner to get some water. Staff at the hospital came round and were dousing her with water. At that point my skin started to tingle.
“Me and the little girl went into the block to wash our eyes and faces with water.”
Shannon went on: “I think what happened is she got it on her jacket when she fell on the floor and then it transferred to me.
“I went to hospital because my lips kept burning but they couldn’t identify what the substance was.”
She added: “The youngest girl was three years old. I tried to talk to her and ask what her name was but she just kept crying.
“The mum was walking along the street but she couldn’t see anything.
‘MY EYES’
“Staff from the hotel came out to help as well.”
Shannon told how her partner chased after the attacker, dressed in black, but was wearing slippers and lost him.
She added: “I think it was a domestic incident.”
Another witness said: “There was a little baby girl banging on the door on the man’s side, the lady was crying, screaming ‘my eyes, my eyes, police’.
“He opened the door, took out the baby and banged her against the ground twice, I’m talking hard, bang.”
Another female witness added: “It was horrendous. I heard people screaming. I saw a car and thought there had been an accident.
“I saw him come out of the driver’s side and take out a child from the back of the car.
“He extended his arms and threw her like a rag doll to the ground. Then he did it again. I thought she was dead. She didn’t make any noise.
“I heard the baby say ‘I want my mum, I want my mum’. I was so relieved she was alive. I saw a silver canister that may have been what the corrosive substance was in.”
One man said of the woman: “She was screaming: ‘My eyes! My eyes!’. I then ran into my house, grabbed a water bottle and threw water on her eyes. Her lips were black. Her skin looked burnt.”