Clapham chemical attacker was dead within hours of incident despite police hunt lasting weeks
Abdul Ezedi was at the centre of a major manhunt before his body was recovered from the River Thames more than two weeks after an attack.
Tuesday 23 July 2024 13:29, UK
The Clapham chemical attacker Abdul Ezedi took his own life by jumping into the Thames within hours of attacking a woman and two girls, a coroner has ruled.
Police had begun searching for the 35-year-old after the attack in south London on 31 January.
The pizza delivery worker is believed to have entered the River Thames later that day, and his body was found just beneath Chelsea Bridge on 19 February.
Senior coroner Mary Hassell ruled out the possibility that Ezedi was pushed or fell into the water by accident and ruled he died from suicide and drowned.
She told the inquest at Poplar Coroner's Court in east London: "The circumstances surrounding his death are clear in part.
"The evidence of the Metropolitan Police Service is that he is likely to have entered the River Thames at Chelsea Bridge at approximately 11.30pm.
"It seems likely to me that he drowned almost immediately and, although he was not found until 19 February 2024, I will put his death as 31 January."
Ms Hassell added: "Given the circumstances, including what happened in the day, I think that it is likely that he jumped into the water, and I think it is likely that he did so with the intention of ending his life."
Keep up with all the latest news from the UK and around the world by following Sky News
A huge manhunt saw detectives track Ezedi's final movements along the river on CCTV.
It came after his former girlfriend was doused with a corrosive chemical in an attack on her and her daughters, aged three and eight.
After Ezedi, from the Newcastle area, fled the scene, he was captured on CCTV with what appeared to be serious injuries to his face.
Ezedi initially used his bank card to travel on the Tube before walking a route that broadly hugged the banks of the Thames in the following hours.
Be the first to get Breaking News
Install the Sky News app for free
In the days after the attack, it emerged Ezedi was granted asylum in the UK in 2020.
This was despite the fact he was handed a suspended sentence for a sexual offence in November 2018.
Detective Sergeant Christine Clayton accepted that Ezedi was the prime suspect in the chemical attack.
A positive identification had been made that he was the keeper of a car that was at the scene, she told the court.
No final note was found after his death and he did not go online to research how to take his life, she added.
Read more from Sky News:
BBC boss addresses Strictly scandal
Two women arrested after suspected stabbing at tube station
No members of Ezedi's family attended the inquest, where a number of statements were also read out to try and piece together his final movements, actions and mindset.
Dr Katie Senior, a GP at a surgery in Newcastle where Ezedi was a patient, said he had only attended twice for poor sleep and eczema and he was not on medication.
She said his history showed him as having depression when he was with a different GP and he did not have contact with mental health services.
Blood and urine tests were also used to see if Ezedi was intoxicated when he went into the water.
Toxicologist Matthew Christopher said there was a "low concentration" of alcohol, below the legal limits, and drugs were not found.
In his statement, forensic pathologist Dr Robert Chapman described Ezedi as a thin man of short stature whose body showed "no evidence of external or internal injury" but he was "significantly decomposed".