Relatives say the suspect had a relationship with the victim.

A shopkeeper in Newcastle said Mr Ezzedi’s English was “bad” but he was known to keep in touch with relatives in Afghanistan.

Ezedi is believed to have topped up his pay-as-you-go mobile phone before traveling to Newcastle.

Police often track fugitives by triangulating cell phone cell site data to pinpoint where the device is located. However, purchasing a pay-as-you-go, non-contract cell phone requires no identification, which can make it much more difficult for police to track you down.

The devices are often used by county criminal organizations to conduct drug transactions, as uncontracted cell phones are not easily tracked by police.

Ezzedi’s use of a no-contract phone means he may be able to stay one step ahead of police with support from friends and relatives in Afghanistan.

A Newcastle shopkeeper, who declined to be named, said Ezzedi had visited his shop early on Wednesday morning, shortly before leaving for London, and charged his mobile phone with credit.

“He topped up the charges for international calls a few days ago,” the Iranian owner of a shop selling cell phone credit in Bikel said on Saturday.

“He was regularly buying cell phone credit. It wasn’t a contract phone, so he needed pay-as-you-go credit to make international calls. He used to make calls to his homeland of Afghanistan. I think it was.”

A friend told The Sunday Telegraph that Abdul Ezzedi was being helped by relatives in Afghanistan.

Ezzedi charged an international pay-as-you-go mobile phone in Newcastle shortly before traveling to London and attacked a woman and her two children in London on Wednesday.

The 35-year-old man, originally from Afghanistan, had been visiting a shop in the biker area of ​​Newcastle’s east end, where he was living in a homeless hostel.

Catholic church leaders in Newcastle said they did not believe Mr Ezzedi had converted to Catholicism before being granted asylum.

His application to remain in the UK, which claimed he had converted to Christianity and would be persecuted if returned to Afghanistan, was approved by an immigration judge in 2021 or 2022.

Sources told the Telegraph that Mr Ezzedi had received help with food, clothing and toiletries from Catholic Charities in Newcastle, but had found “no evidence” that he had used the church to convert. ”.

A spokesperson for the Diocese of Hexham and Newcastle said: “Our thoughts and prayers are first and foremost with the victims of this horrific attack in south London.

“We can confirm that Abdul Shakoor Ezedi visited our diocese’s Justice and Peace Refugee Project, a charity that supports a wide range of people who come to us.

“We are investigating whether this person has been accepted into the Catholic faith in one of our dioceses, but so far we have not found anything to support that. We are also investigating whether he could have been helped in any way. The diocese will assist police in their investigation in any way possible.”

A Clapham resident injured in Wednesday’s chemical attack said he had “never seen anything so horrifying in my life”.

A woman who was present said she was the first to call police after hearing the screams Wednesday.

Rachel, who declined to give her last name, told The Times: “The screaming was so loud it sounded like something serious was happening. So I went outside.

“At first I thought it was a car accident. But then I realized that the man was [youngest] kids on the go [of the car] Then I saw him throw the child away and run off into the street. I called the police and an ambulance.

“I noticed that my mother’s whole face was covered in liquid, and I knew it was acid or something.”

Officers have appealed for a 35-year-old man from the Newcastle area to surrender after fleeing the attack in Clapham, south London, on Wednesday, with what was described as a “serious injury to the right side of his face”. Ta. .

The 31-year-old mother, who is believed to have known Ezzedi, was attacked with a caustic alkaline substance and was sedated in hospital in a “grave condition”, with her injuries believed to be “life-changing”. ing.

Metropolitan Police Commander John Savell told reporters outside Scotland Yard on Friday that “significant and significant evidence” had been recovered in searches in east London and Newcastle on Thursday night.

Here’s what we learned yesterday:

• The suspect was twice refused asylum in the UK before being allowed to stay after claiming he had converted to Christianity.
• Former immigration minister Robert Jenrick said he expected the home secretary to carry out a “detailed review” of how Abdul Ezzedi was granted asylum.
• Staff at the Byker butcher shop in east Newcastle, where Ezzedi bought his halal meat, said they were “appalled” that Ezzedi had been involved in the attack because he was a “good Muslim”.
• Rishi Sunak believes ‘foreign criminals should not be able to stay’ in the UK
• Abdul Ezedi was placed on the sex offenders register for 10 years.
• Church of England says it is Home Office’s role to ‘scrutinize asylum seekers’
• Commander John Sabel said the mother’s injuries were expected to be “life-changing”
• The suspect was last seen on the Victoria Line.

Police said Abdul Ezzedi was last seen on the southbound Victoria Line subway train.

The suspect was captured on CCTV at King’s Cross tube station at 9pm on Wednesday, about an hour and a half after the attack in Clapham, where a woman and her two children were sprayed with a corrosive substance.

An Afghan refugee suspected of a chemical attack on his family in Clapham, south-west London, should not have been granted asylum, according to Home Office rules.

Mr Abdul Ezzedi should have been barred from asylum because he was convicted of sexual assault in Newcastle in 2018 and was placed on the sex offenders’ register as a result.

However, on his third appeal, an immigration judge granted his request because he had converted to Christianity and argued that he would be persecuted if sent back to Afghanistan.

read Click here for the full text.

The Clapham chemical attack suspect was a “good Muslim”, friends have told the Telegraph, despite claiming he had converted to Christianity in order to apply for asylum in the UK.

Abdul Shakoor Ezedi, 35, told the owner of his favorite Middle Eastern grocery store where he bought halal meat that he would one day return to Afghanistan “to find a wife.”

Evidence that he remained a devout Muslim raises serious questions about the role Christian faith leaders played in supporting his successful asylum claim.

read Click here for the full text.

Police wearing gas masks, blue hazmat suits and carrying shields stormed the YMCA-run hostel in Leyton, east London, where Ezedi’s brother Hassan lives.

Another resident, Kami Borden, 20, said: “I was scared because the police had Tasers.

“They were screaming quite loudly. I could hear them banging on my door.

“Frankly, I was ruining myself. They told me to put my hands on my head and walk backwards out of the room.

“They took us to the other side of the road and told us it was dangerous to be on the property.”

The brother of chemical attack fugitive Abdul Ezzedi says he will not hesitate to hand him over to the police.

Hassan Ezedi, 21, said this after riot police in hazmat suits raided his east London home at 2am on Friday to search for his 35-year-old brother.

Hassan urged his brother to turn himself in, saying: I don’t know if he’s alive or where he is now. ”

Furthermore, he added: “I met him briefly last week. He didn’t live with me. He was in Newcastle.”

good morning. Welcome to The Telegraph’s live coverage of the hunt for suspected chemical attacker Abdul Ezzedi.

Ezzedi, who is said to have “severe injuries to the right side of his face”, has been urged to hand himself in following the attack in Clapham, south London, on Wednesday.

Follow our live blog for the latest updates.