Clapham Attack: Tory MP Rips System, On-The-Run Suspect Was Granted Asylum After Sex Assault Conviction

Former Immigration Minister Robert Jenrick called for a “detailed review” by the Home Secretary into the asylum case of Abdul Ezedi, the suspect being pursued by police after a corrosive substance attack in south London that left a woman and her toddler with “life-changing injuries.”

Ezedi, a 35-year-old Afghan national, reportedly travelled 300 miles, from Newcastle to south London, where he threw children to the ground and doused the mother and youngest daughter with a chemical witnesses say left her unable to see. The attack resulted in 11 people being hospitalised. CCTV footage shows that even Ezedi appears to have sustained significant burns to his own eye and face.

Ezedi’s motivations remain uncertain but his residential status has become the centre of a heated debate on immigration after it was reported that he was convicted of a sex offence in 2018 at Newcastle Crown Court, for which he received a suspended sentence, but was later granted asylum, after applying three times.

Jenrick, who notably resigned his cabinet position last year amidst controversies over the Rwanda immigration plan, spoke to BBC Radio 4’s Today programme on Friday.

The politician told host Nick Robinson that he had “very serious concerns” about the dubious nature of the evidence leading to Ezedi’s asylum. The Telegraph reports that Ezedi only succeeded on his third application attempt after a priest backed up his claim that he had converted to Christianity.

Jenrick said: “It appears from what little we know of this case, that this is an individual whose asylum or humanitarian protection in the UK was granted by a tribunal, so probably by a judge rather than Home Office officials, despite the fact that he had been convicted of a sexual offence and on the basis of evidence which, we shall have to see, may well be spurious or insubstantial, such as this suggestion that he had converted to Christianity.”

He continued: “I’m afraid we do see cases regularly making spurious claims to have converted to Christianity, aided and abetted by often well-meaning but naive vicars and priests. I think we need to investigate the particular circumstances.”

Jenrick went on to call for a thorough investigation to take place and that the scenario reflected his broader critique of the UK’s asylum system, which he finds “very difficult” to navigate, “because regularly the courts weigh on the side of the asylum seeker.”