Police comb through River Thames in search for Abdul Ezedi's body

Police are today combing the River Thames in the search for Abdul Ezedi's body. Met Police Detectives' main working hypothesis is now that the 35-year-old had “gone into” the Thames after being seen leaning over the railings of Chelsea Bridge in West London on the night of the incident.

A police boat circled between Vauxhall and Chelsea bridges on this morning (February 10). They believe he entered the water after zig-zagging through the capital, covering four miles in four hours on Wednesday (January 31). The latest CCTV footage - caught at around 11.28pm that night - shows Ezedi walking northbound on the left side on Chelsea Bridge. Commander John Savell leading the investigation said at the bridge Ezedi’s behaviour “visibly changed.”

He added that a behavioural analyst has been commissioned via the NCA to watch the footage. CCTV footage also doesn’t show he was in contact with anyone he may know after the attack, suggesting Ezedi had acted alone.

Abdul Ezedi captured on CCTV in Upper Thames Street at 9.54pm on Wednesday, January 31 (Image: Metropolitan Police)

In a briefing at Scotland Yard on Friday (February 9), Commander Savell said: “We have spent the last 24 hours meticulously following the CCTV, and it’s our main working hypothesis that he’s now gone into the water. We have looked at all of the available cameras and angles, and with the assistance of Transport for London and CCTV from buses that were travelling over the bridge at the relevant time and there is no sighting of him coming off the bridge.”

Asked whether police were willing to say that Ezedi was dead, Detective Superintendent Rick Sewart said: “I’m prepared to say that he’s gone into the water and if he’s gone into the water then that’s the most probable outcome.”

Ezedi, from the Newcastle area, is accused of pouring a strong alkali on his ex-partner, and injuring her two young children, aged three and eight, in Clapham. The woman had been in a relationship with Ezedi, with the breakdown of the relationship a possible motive for the attack.

Woman still 'very poorly and unable to speak'

Mr Savell confirmed the woman remained in a “critical but stable condition” in hospital and was still “very poorly and unable to speak” to police. He said it was possible they may never find Ezedi’s body due to the speed of the current in the Thames.

He told the briefing: “At this time of year, the Thames is very fast flowing, very wide and full of lots of snags. It is quite likely that if he has gone in the water, he won’t appear for maybe up to a month and it’s not beyond possibility that he may never actually surface.”

Mr Savell said searches of the River Thames would be carried out by the Met’s marine support unit, and that the force were in contact with a member of Ezedi’s family. Mr Sewart said the Met had tracked Ezedi’s movements from the Tower Hill area, where he has walked more than four miles “with purpose” to Chelsea Bridge.

He continued: “When he has got to the area of Chelsea Bridge, his behaviour visibly appears to change in so much as he walked up and down the bridge – he pauses in the midpoint of the bridge, halfway down the bridge. Then he walked to and from the side of the bridge and can be seen to sort of lean over the railings before there is a loss of sight.”

Manhunt ongoing for over week

A manhunt to find him has been ongoing for more than a week, with officers raiding two addresses linked to Ezedi in Newcastle in the early hours of Thursday. Earlier this week police said the last confirmed sighting was just before 11.30pm on January 31, a few hours after the attack, as he crossed over Chelsea Bridge and entered Battersea Park in central London, then crossed back over the same bridge minutes later.

Ezedi came to the UK hidden in a lorry in 2016, and was turned down twice for asylum before successfully appealing against the Home Office rejection by claiming he had converted to Christianity. He was convicted of two sexual offences in 2018 but was allowed to stay in the UK because his crimes were not serious enough to meet the threshold for deportation.

A tribunal judge is understood to have ruled in favour of his asylum claim in 2020 after a retired Baptist church minister confirmed he had converted to Christianity, reportedly describing Ezedi as “wholly committed” to his new religion. Ezedi, who is not the father of the children who were hurt, suffered significant facial injuries in the incident which police previously said could prove fatal if left untreated.

Time Line

London sightings of Abdul Ezedi

January 31 - 6.30am
Abdul Ezedi is seen driving in the Tooting area of South London after heading down from Newcastle in the 'very early' hours. The drive time from Newcastle is over 5 and a half hours
4.30pm

It's not known what Ezedi has been doing all day as the next sighting of his vehicle is in Croydon 10 hours later. He's travelled roughly 6 miles in that time
7pm
Another two and a half hours later he's seen driving in Streatham just up the road from Croydon. It's unclear if he's been looking for the would-be victims
7.25pm

A mother and her two daughters are attacked with an alkaline substance in Lessar Avenue, Clapham. Nine other people are hurt trying to intervene. Ezedi crashes his car trying to flee the scene then escapes on foot with a serious facial injury
7.33pm
He boards a train at Clapham South Tube station
8pm

Ezedi is seen on CCTV at King's Cross Tube station
8.45pm

Ezedi enters the Tesco store on Caledonian Road, Islington to buy a bottle of water. He has blood all over his face
9pm

He boards a London Underground train again and heads south on the Victoria line at King's Cross
9.10pm

Ezedi gets off at London Victoria Tube station
9.33pm

After apparently getting on the District line at Victoria he is seen leaving Tower Hill Underground station at 9.33pm
9.50pm

Abdul Ezedi is spotted on Southwark Bridge. He has not used his bank card since then
9.54pm

Ezedi is caught on CCTV walking along Upper Thames Street and then onto Pauls Walk
10.04pm
He passes the Unilever Building in Blackfriars before heading towards Victoria Embankment
11pm
Abdul Ezedi was last seen as he crossed Vauxhall Bridge at 11pm on Monday, January 31. Police believe he then moved onto Vauxhall Bridge Road.