Body found in hunt for Clapham chemical assault suspect

A body has been found in connection with the hunt for a suspect who severely injured a “vulnerable” mother and her two young daughters in a chemical assault, Scotland Yard have said.

Abdul Ezedi has been sought by police since the attack on 31 January in Clapham, south London, with officers appealing to the public to call 999 if they saw him.

Marine police had been searching the Thames after officers concluded that he had “gone into” the river hours after the attack.

Ezedi was seen walking “with purpose” to Chelsea Bridge in west London and then captured on CCTV leaning over the railings of the bridge on the night of the attack. After that, there was a visible change in his behaviour, and “a loss of sight”, with no sighting on any CCTV footage of him coming off the bridge.

Scotland Yard had appealed for Ezedi – who was himself wounded in the attack and bore “significant injuries to the right side of his face” – to hand himself in.

He is believed to have driven from his home in Newcastle to London early on the morning of the attack carrying the chemicals he would allegedly use hours later.

The 31-year-old woman, whom police said Ezedi knew, remains in hospital – with detectives saying her injuries were thought to be “life-changing”. Her children, aged three and eight, are not thought to be as severely injured as first feared.

More details soon …