Body recovered from Thames linked to Clapham attack

Detectives leading the hunt for Abdul Ezedi, wanted for a brutal attack on a mother and her children in Clapham, believe his body has been recovered from the River Thames.

At around 16:00hrs on Monday, 19 February, the crew of a passing boat reported they had seen a body in the water at Tower Pier EC3.

The body was recovered by the Met’s Marine Policing Unit and has been viewed by detectives working on the investigation.

Commander Jon Savell said: “Based on the distinctive clothing he was wearing at the time of the attack and property found on his body, we strongly believe we have recovered the body of Ezedi.

“We have been in contact with his family to pass on the news.

“As you may expect after a considerable period of time in the strong current of the Thames, formal identification is not possible visually, nor from fingerprints. We will work with the coroner on other ways to complete formal identification, such as DNA testing and dental records. That may take some time.

”Our enquiries continue into the attack. I am pleased to say the condition of the 31-year-old woman has improved. She remains in hospital but she is in a stable condition and no longer sedated. We have still not been able to speak to her but hope to as soon as she is well enough.

”Again, I thank all those hundreds of members of the public who called us with information during the hunt for Ezedi. The public support for our investigation was overwhelming and every piece of information provided was followed up.”

On Friday, 9 February we updated that detectives believed Ezedi went into the River Thames at Chelsea Bridge, some four hours after the alkaline attack on Wednesday, 31 January. This was based on painstaking examination of CCTV footage which had tracked Ezedi to the location and then saw him disappear from view.

Officers from the Marine Policing Unit carried out a number of low tide searches in the area surrounding Chelsea Bridge over the weekend of 10/11 February. They had continued routine searches as part of their daily work and recovered Ezedi’s body yesterday.

Our investigation continues into the attack and detectives have been carrying out a range of further enquiries. There have been no more arrests.