Clapham chemical attack fugitive walked past Scotland Yard hours after dozen people injured
The suspect in a chemical attack that left a mother fighting for life appears to have walked right past New Scotland Yard hours later.
Based on CCTV movements released by the force, Abdul Ezedi walked beside the River Thames on a route that looks to have taken him within yards of the Met’s headquarters on the Embankment in central London.
A major manhunt is still underway for the fugitive, with the last confirmed sighting on Vauxhall Bridge Road at around 11pm on Wednesday January 31, a few hours after the attack.
The incident took place at around 7.30pm in Lessar Avenue, Clapham. CCTV footage appears to show Ezedi falling to the ground immediately following the attack, apparently injured by the substance used, before fleeing to Clapham South station minutes later.
He travelled to Kings Cross and bought water from a Tesco in Caledonian Road before being seen leaving Tower Hill underground station. The suspect was initially travelling around on the Tube network using his bank card but after stepping out at Tower Hill, that card was never used again.
Ezedi then appears to have walked a route going west, that broadly hugged the River Thames, heading towards Victoria Embankment on the north side of the river around 10pm.
At around 10.28pm he was spotted crossing Westminster Bridge in the shadow of Big Ben and the heart of the country’s government. That route would very likely have taken him right past the New Scotland Yard building.
He then walked past the MI6 Secret Service HQ before crossing back north on Vauxhall Bridge Road, into Grosvenor Road just after 11pm.
At 11.30pm that evening he crossed over Chelsea Bridge and entered Battersea Park in central London, then crossed back over the same bridge minutes later.
This is the last recorded sighting to date. His route was revealed before armed police executed two raids at addresses in Newcastle, including a pizza takeaway, on Thursday morning.
The Metropolitan Police said the warrants, including one at Ezedi’s place of work, were carried out in the early hours. No arrests have been made following the raids, which were a joint operation between the Met and Northumbria Police.
The woman hurt in the attack, described as a “doting mother by friends”, remains sedated in hospital and is still too ill to speak to police.
Investigators said that she had agreed to meet him on the day of the attack, and that she and her children were in a car with Ezedi when he struck.
Anyone with information can speak to the investigation team via our hotline on 020 7175 2784, or for an immediate sighting dial 999.
