Abdul Shokoor Ezedi: Body found in Thames confirmed as Clapham suspect

Abdul Shokoor Ezedi was seen on CCTV at a Tesco Express in north London about 70 minutes after the attack

A body found in the River Thames this week has been formally identified as chemical attack suspect Abdul Shokoor Ezedi, the Metropolitan Police has said.

Officers began hunting for Ezedi, 35, after a woman and two girls were attacked in Clapham on 31 January.

Ezedi was last seen on CCTV leaning over London's Chelsea Bridge.

A post-mortem examination carried out on Wednesday confirmed his cause of death was drowning.

Ezedi's family has been informed of the latest development and a file will be passed to the coroner, police say.

Met Police Cdr Jon Savell said work had been undertaken to formally identify Ezedi as "quickly as possible".

"As the public would expect, our enquiries continue into this atrocious attack," he added.

• Clapham suspect arranged to meet victim before attack

• What we know about Clapham suspect's movements

Ezedi, from the Newcastle area, is alleged to have poured a strong alkali on his ex-partner, and injured her two young children, aged eight and three, in Clapham.

Cdr Savell said the 31-year-old woman was still in hospital where she remained in a "stable condition and no longer sedated".

Police believe after the attack, Ezedi fled the scene and initially used his bank card to travel on the Tube before walking a route that broadly ran adjacent to the banks of the River Thames.

Investigators pieced together CCTV footage to establish that he had jumped into the river.

A marine policing unit had been conducting low tide searches and recovered the body on Monday at Tower Pier, near Tower Bridge.

The post-mortem examination was carried out at Poplar Mortuary on Wednesday and Ezedi's body was formally identified on Thursday, the Met added.

A manhunt was launched after the attack on Lessar Avenue, near Clapham Common, in January

Ezedi's car was spotted in Newcastle shortly after midnight on the day of the attack.

But by 06:30 GMT he had travelled almost 300 miles (480km) to reach Tooting in south London.

The vehicle was then spotted in Croydon on the edge of the city at 16:30.

Police said there was a "very strong indication" that Ezedi, who was believed to have travelled to the UK on a lorry from Afghanistan in 2016, had been in a relationship with the woman hurt in the attack and had arranged to meet her in London.

They say the breakdown of their relationship may have been his motive.

His car was spotted in Streatham, south London, at 19:00. Some 25 minutes later in Lessar Avenue, Clapham, the attack, which involved the use of a "very strong concentrated corrosive substance", took place inside the vehicle.