How chemical attacker Abdul Ezedi brought nationwide manhunt to Tyneside

It was a brutal and harrowing attack inflicted almost 300 miles away from Tyneside.

When Abdul Ezedi disappeared into the night after seriously injuring his ex in a chemical attack, he sparked one of the biggest national manhunts of recent years. And within hours of the attack, in London, it was revealed that the Metropolitan Police's prime suspect was from Newcastle.

Police spent almost three weeks hunting Ezedi following the attack, in January, before his body was eventually found in the River Thames by police divers. And today, almost a year on from the the manhunt we take a look back at how the dramatic search came to Tyneside.

Ezedi targeted his 31-year-old victim, who was with her daughters aged three and eight, in a quiet street near London's Clapham Common, on January 31. After throwing what was described as a "corrosive alkaline" substance at the woman, he attempted to make his getaway in a car. But after crashing into a stationery vehicle, the 35-year-old fled on foot.

The woman, who had previously been in a relationship with Ezedi, suffered life-changing injuries in the attack, while Ezedi himself was also maimed. As Ezedi quickly became the UK's most wanted fugitive, it was discovered that the Afghanistan national, who was a convicted sex offender, had travelled from his home in Byker, Newcastle, to London to carry out the horrific assault.

The day after the attack, the Metropolitan Police revealed its officers were working with Northumbria Police in a bid to locate their prime suspect, who may be trying to return to the North East.

As police revealed Ezedi's identity and picture they warned the public to stay away from him. On the evening of February 1, police raided five properties, two in London and three in Newcastle, but Ezedi was not found.

Bilal Khan, who works at Billy's Garage, close to the sheltered accommodation in Byker where Ezedi had been living, said he recognised the fugitive immediately when police released his picture. And he told the Chronicle that the attacker had visited the garage months earlier looking for an automatic car.

Bilal said: "We had one and I gave him a price but it was too much. He kept coming back to the garage asking for a reduced price but I kept telling him no."

Bilal said he remembers Ezedi as being "persistent" and he immediately recognised him when one of his colleagues showed him a photo of the alleged attacker. Staff at a Kurdish grocery shop in Byker also recognised Ezedi. They told The Times that he would come in every two weeks to buy half of a halal sheep that he would then cut up and put in his freezer. They claimed he told people he wanted to return to Afghanistan to find a wife, and described him as "a good Muslim" who did not drink alcohol.

Meanwhile, an asylum support worker based near Newcastle city centre said he had known Ezedi for more than two years.

The charity worker told the PA news agency: "He has been coming here for more than two years, since I took over the project here. At the time he was identified as a destitute asylum seeker and did not have access to Home Office support. He was registered as someone who needs essential food and furniture. We looked at his legal documents, what is his status in the country.

“Over time, I knew him by face. He often came to the centre, every three, four or five weeks. He seemed a calm person, sitting in the corner by himself, there was never, ever any complaint or any trouble. He was last here two or three weeks ago. We were not aware he had been granted the right to remain, we were not aware he had a criminal record."

On February 3, four days after the attack, police in London revealed that officers had found empty containers with corrosive warnings during a raid on a property in Newcastle. Tests later revealed it was not the substance used in the attack.

The following week the Chronicle revealed that Ezedi had had been working at a takeaway in Forest Hall, North Tyneside, for around a year before the attack. And a shopkeeper who spoke to Ezedi every day at her nearby shop told of her shock and surprise when she discovered he was linked to the horror assault.

The woman, who did not want to be named, said: "It was really, really shocking when I heard that. He was always a really really kind person." The shopkeeper said Ezedi would come into her shop at around 4pm every day before starting his shift at the takeaway.

"He came in here all the time, he came every day before he started work," the 33-year-old said. "He would just buy pop or Red Bull and biscuits. He liked Jaffa Cakes. I saw it on the news and I recognised him straight away," she said. "I was really, really shocked. It was really unbelievable."

And the mum-of-two told the Chronicle it was hard to comprehend that her friendly customer was the fugitive suspect. "Whenever he came here he was a really polite person," she said. "He's never been rude or anything like that. He was always asking how I was. I have got a little girl and a son and he was always asking after them. And he always said; 'God bless you'."

And a man who worked in the same takeaway where Azedi was employed said he was also shocked to discover his former colleague was at the centre of the manhunt. He said: "I was very shocked, like everybody was, when I saw it on the news. He didn't seem like a person who could be involved in that so I was very shocked."

A barber, who works near the takeaway, also recognised Ezedi when she saw his picture in the Chronicle. She said he worked in the kitchen.

"He used to cook in there," she said. "I recognised him from the picture in the Chronicle, I didn't know anything about him until I saw that."

Days later police hunting Ezedi raided the Best Bite Pizza and Grill House, where Ezedi had worked. Neighbours described hearing banging and the sound of a chainsaw early in the morning.

Another resident said: "There were about seven armed police. They were about 6ft 5, they were huge. One was standing behind the open passenger side door of the police van that was blocking the road then they all crouched down and ran towards the door.

"Then the police dogs arrived and more officers. A huge van turned up with more officers. They were carrying a big metal box", she added.

The resident said she could hear shouting, banging, and what sounded like a chainsaw before officers gained entry to the property. She added that officers left at around 1.30am.

A Metropolitan Police spokesman said afterwards: "In the early hours of this morning, Thursday 8 February, armed police executed two warrants at addresses associated with Ezedi, including his place of work.

"This was a joint operation between Northumbria Police and the Met. No arrests were made, enquiries and searches continue."

Soon after the raids, the Metropolitan Police announced that officers believed Ezedi had gone into the River Thames soon after the attack, and was dead. Detectives said they had used CCTV to track Ezedi’s movements after the attack in Clapham, which happened at just before 7.30pm.

Commander Jon Savell said CCTV tracked Ezedi to Chelsea Bridge, up to this point his demeanour had been calm, but just before 11.28pm cameras show him agitated, peering over the railing, and then disappearing from view.

Commander Savell said: “It is our main working hypothesis that he has now gone in the water.”

The Commander said they had looked at the angles of the cameras covering the bridge as well as footage from cameras from three buses passing the scene at that point. “There’s no sighting of him coming off the bridge,” he said.

On February 19, police pulled a body from the River Thames, which they said they believed to ne Ezedi. The remains were formally identified several days later, bringing the huge manhunt to a close.