Clapham chemical attack: Police raid addresses in North Tyneside

Police looking for the Clapham chemical attack suspect have raided two addresses in North Tyneside, including a pizza takeaway where he worked.

Officers have been searching for nearly eight days for Abdul Shokoor Ezedi, 35, who is wanted for attempted murder after a mother and her two children were injured by a corrosive liquid.

Armed police raided the addresses in the early hours of Thursday, Metropolitan Police said.

No arrests were made.

The addresses were associated with Ezedi, including a pizza takeaway where he worked and a flat above, and were raided as part of a joint operation with Northumbria Police.

Police cars and vans were seen outside the Best Bite takeaway on Forest Hall Road, about 250 miles (400 km) north of Ezedi's last reported sighting in London.

The latest raids are part of a string of searches at addresses in London and the north of England, where he lived in the Newcastle area.

• What we know about Clapham suspect's movements

Police believe Ezedi, who suffered potentially fatal facial injuries in the attack, may be being helped to evade capture. A £20,000 reward is in place for information leading to his arrest.

His last reported sighting is now crossing north over Chelsea Bridge at 23:27 GMT on the day of the attack, shortly after leaving Battersea Park, the Met has said.

Ezedi is accused of pouring a strong alkali on his ex-partner and injuring her two young children, aged three and eight, in an attack in Clapham on 31 January.

The woman, 31, who remains in a critical condition sedated in hospital, could lose sight in her right eye.

Police have been searching for Abdul Shokoor Ezedi for nearly eight days

Met Police Cdr Jon Savell said on Wednesday the manhunt is "an incredibly high-priority attempted murder investigation".

Turning to potential motives, he said: "They were in a relationship and that relationship had broken down."

Detectives said she had agreed to meet him on the day of the attack, and she and her children were in a car when she was struck.

A friend of the woman described her as a "devoted and loving mother", before saying: "All she has ever wanted is a safe home for her and her beautiful, kind little girls."

Ezedi, believed to have travelled to the UK on a lorry from Afghanistan in 2016, is not the father of the children who were hurt.

At a police briefing, Darius Nasimi, of the charity Afghanistan and Central Asian Association, said his organisation was working closely with the police to make sure the Afghan community are reached as widely as possible.

"Violence against women and girls cannot be tolerated," he said, before issuing a plea for anyone harbouring Ezedi or helping him to avoid capture to come forward.

A 22-year-old man was arrested on suspicion of assisting an offender on Monday. He has since been bailed.

The Afghan refugee came to the UK in a lorry in 2016, and had his asylum claim rejected twice before he successfully appealed against the Home Office by claiming he had converted to Christianity.

Ezedi was also convicted of two sexual offences in 2018 but was allowed to stay because his crimes did not meet the threshold for deportation.

A Baptist church in Jarrow, Tyne and Wear, has confirmed it is aware of a "connection" it had with the suspect.

"We are aware of the connection Abdul Shakoor Ezedi has had with our church," Grange Road Baptist Church said in a statement on Wednesday.

"As soon as we became aware of the current situation, we made contact with and are co-operating with the relevant authorities. We are praying for all those affected by the situation."