Footage emerges of Clapham chemical attack which injured mother and two children
Footage has emerged of the chemical attack in south London in which a woman and two children were injured.
Police say a “corrosive substance” was thrown during the attack in Clapham, which was described by the fire brigade as a “chemical incident”.
The CCTV footage shows a man running around a car before getting into the driver’s seat, with a woman and child in front of the vehicle holding their hands to their faces.
The man drives the car at the woman and strikes her, before he stops the vehicle and gets out. He opens the back door and appears to remove a child, before violently throwing them to the ground.
The video also appears to show people from neighbouring properties leaving their homes to chase the man down the road.
Nine people were injured in the incident, including two children, their mother and three police officers.
It took place on Lessar Avenue shortly before 7.30pm on Wednesday.
Five of those injured were taken to a major trauma centre, according to the London Ambulance Service (LAS).
Three more were taken to a local hospital and one was discharged at the scene.
Detective Superintendent Alexander Castle, of the Metropolitan Police, said the substance was believed to be “corrosive” but that tests were ongoing.
A helicopter is now involved in a manhunt to catch the person behind the attack.
A car left at the scene of the incident in Clapham, south London. Pic: Sky News
Pic: Sky News
‘It was all so traumatising’
An eyewitness, who asked to stay anonymous, told Sky News: “There was a man in a white car with two children. It looked like he tried to run over a woman. They had been fighting.
“One girl in the back had her hand on the window – you can see the mark on the car.
“He grabbed one of the two children and violently grabbed them and slammed them on the floor.
“The lady then shouted: ‘My eyes! My eyes! Call the police, my eyes!’
“Then I saw him run off. It was all so traumatising.”
Pic: James Weech/PA
Pic: James Weech/PA Wire
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Another witness described how he tried to wash the chemical from the woman’s face.
“It was horrific,” he told Sky News. “First a man grabbed his kid – a girl aged two or three from a white car. He threw her onto the floor – twice. It was the worst thing I’ve ever seen.
“The man then threw something at the woman. She was screaming: ‘My eyes! My eyes!’
“I then ran into my house, grabbed a water bottle and threw water on her eyes. Her lips were black. Her skin looked burnt.
“I then chased the man halfway down the street. I was wearing my slippers so didn’t get very far.”
A police officer who was driving a van that followed two teenagers shortly before they died in an e-bike crash will not be prosecuted.
The deaths of Harvey Evans, 15, and Kyrees Sullivan, 16, sparked riots in the Ely area of Cardiff in May 2023.
The officer was facing a dangerous driving allegation but prosecutors decided there was not enough evidence for a realistic prospect of conviction.
A Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) statement said: “We fully understand that this will be disappointing news for the families of both boys and will offer a meeting with them to explain our reasoning further.”
Rumours on social media that the teenagers were being pursued by police were initially denied.
South Wales Police said none of its vehicles were in Snowden Road at the time of the crash.
But police watchdog the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) later confirmed it was investigating after video appeared to show them being followed by a van – without blue lights or a siren – minutes before the incident.
Other footage, however, showed the van turn off and it wasn’t following the boys at the time of the collision.
A key factor under consideration was whether there was any point at which the actions of the officers in the van “constituted a pursuit”.
CCTV showed a police van following the bike moments before it crashed
Read more:
Timeline of events before fatal Cardiff crash
The driver and passenger of the marked police van were previously issued with gross misconduct notices.
A second investigation was also opened by the IOPC into issues including police management of the crash scene and treatment of the families.
Riots broke out in the Ely area after the boys’ death. Pic: PA
Pic: PA
A riot of several hours broke out after the boys’ deaths, with cars set alight and fireworks and other missiles thrown at police.
Eleven officers needed hospital treatment and 31 people were eventually charged.
The decision not to charge the police officer driving the van can be challenged under the victims’ right of review scheme.
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