Alkali attack suspect Abdul Ezedi drowned, police confirm

Alkali attack suspect Abdul Ezedi drowned, police have confirmed.

Ezedi’s body was recovered from the River Thames on Monday and has now been formally identified following a post-mortem examination, the Metropolitan Police said.

His former girlfriend, a mother-of-two who was doused with a corrosive chemical in a harrowing attack on her and her children, aged eight and three, in Clapham last month, is now in a stable condition and no longer sedated, the force added.

On Friday, Commander Jon Savell said: “As the public would expect, our enquiries continue into this atrocious attack.

“We have still not been able to speak to her but hope to as soon as she is well enough.”

The Met said a file will now be passed to the coroner and Ezedi’s family have been informed.

Police believe Ezedi, from the Newcastle area, threw a burning chemical over the woman, some of which also injured one of the children, and slammed the three-year-old’s head on the ground in the attack on January 31.

He then fled the scene and initially used his bank card to travel on the Tube before walking a route that broadly hugged the banks of the River Thames in the following hours.

During a massive manhunt, investigators had to piece together CCTV footage to establish that he had jumped in the Thames.

At around 4pm on Monday the crew of a passing boat reported they had seen a body in the water near Tower Bridge at Tower Pier.

The body was recovered by the Metropolitan Police’s Marine Policing Unit, with support from London Fire Brigade, and has been viewed by detectives working on the investigation.

The post-mortem examination was carried out at Poplar Mortuary on Wednesday and his body was formally identified on Thursday, the Met said.