Abdul Ezedi: Documents reveal why Clapham chemical attacker was granted asylum – as pictures show him being baptised

Published

1 year ago

March 26, 2024

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Documents revealing why Clapham chemical attacker Abdul Ezedi – a convicted sex offender – was granted asylum have been made public for the first time, while Sky News has obtained pictures of him being baptised in church.

Ezedi attacked a woman and two children with an alkali on a street in south London in January.

The 35-year-old, from Afghanistan, had twice been refused asylum by the Home Office after arriving in the UK on the back of a lorry in 2016.

The second refusal was overturned by a judge in an appeal hearing in October 2020 because of Ezedi’s claim to have converted to Christianity.

A suggestion that he would be at risk of persecution if he returned to Afghanistan was supported by a vicar.

Judge WK O’Hanlon, who granted Ezedi asylum at Newcastle Immigration Court in November 2020, said in his judgment that “the most compelling evidence was that of the former Reverend Merrin”.

The details of that hearing were not initially made public but Sky News can now reveal exactly what happened after receiving the court documents in full.

‘Baptised by total immersion’

A letter written to the court by Reverend Roy Merrin, a retired ministry team leader at Grange Road Baptist Church in Jarrow, dated 28 August 2018, reads: “I have known Abdul since February 2016, during which time he has attended regular worship services at Grange Road.”

“Abdul has attended an Alpha Course organised by the church and, as a result of him coming to faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, has been baptised by total immersion.”

“Abdul has established a good relationship with the other Church members, and is always willing to help as required. Apart from that, Abdul has been ready to share his faith in Christ with non-Christians.”

Reverend Merrin also told the court hearing when he appeared in person that he had previously attended tribunals for four other asylum seekers all of whom were successful in their appeals.

Sky News has contacted Reverend Merrin, who said he had no comment to make.

Also submitted to the tribunal hearing were photos from Ezedi’s baptism on 24 June 2018 as well as pictures of him engaging in what his legal team described as “street ministry”.

‘Male supporter’ required at church

But also included in the documents is an undated “safeguarding contract” in relation to Ezedi, drawn up by “Baptists Together”, stating: “This agreement is being put in place because of a conviction of sexual assault and exposure.”

Among other conditions, Ezedi had agreed to “not enter the church without [his] male supporter being present” and “will only come to church for Sunday service”.

It was while living in the UK as a failed asylum seeker that Ezedi had pleaded guilty to one count of sexual assault and one count of exposure at Newcastle Crown Court in January 2018. He was handed a suspended prison sentence and put on the sex offenders’ register.

Ezedi twice refused asylum

There is no mention of those convictions in the tribunal judgment that granted asylum to Ezedi. The court documents have also revealed more about why Ezedi had twice previously been refused asylum.

Ezedi’s initial asylum claim after his arrival in 2016 was on the basis that he feared persecution because of his ethnic group. During that claim, he was described as a Shia Muslim.

The claim was rejected by the Home Office in May 2016 and further rejected on appeal in February 2017. By June 2017, Ezedi had run out of appeal options and was living illegally in the UK.

It was in March 2019 that Ezedi submitted a new asylum claim to the Home Office, saying he had converted to Christianity and would face persecution on that basis if he returned to Afghanistan.

That claim was refused by the Home Office in March 2020 because it did not believe his conversion was genuine.

Asylum seekers have the right to appeal Home Office refusals, and Ezedi and his lawyers then compiled the bundle of documents that were put before the judge for the tribunal hearing that led to him being granted asylum.

A Home Office spokesperson said: “All asylum claims are carefully considered on their individual merits in accordance with the immigration rules.

“This means that religious conversions do not guarantee a grant of asylum.

“We have engaged with a wide range of stakeholders to help us to improve our policy guidance, training for asylum decision makers, and to ensure we approach claims involving religious conversion in the appropriate way.”

Baptists Together told Sky News: “Baptists Together did not corporately support or sponsor Abdul Ezedi’s asylum application. A personal letter of support commenting solely on Abdul Ezedi’s observed faith journey was written by a retired Baptist Minister.

“The safeguarding contract was a separate issue and was agreed between the church and Abdul Ezedi, with guidance from local and regional safeguarding leads using our national template document of the time.

“This was to show the church had sufficiently risk assessed Abdul Ezedi’s attendance at church, ensuring the safety of the congregation and considering if it was appropriate for him to attend.

“The Home Office make the final decision on asylum applications and have access to full criminal records data to enable them to do this.”

Additional reporting by Nick Stylianou, communities producer

UK

Diogo Jota: Liverpool players join mourners as Premier League star and his brother Andre Silva buried in Portugal

Published

10 hours ago

July 5, 2025

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Diogo Jota: Liverpool players join mourners as Premier League star and his brother Andre Silva buried in Portugal

Liverpool players past and present have joined the family and friends of Diogo Jota and his brother Andre Silva for their funeral in Portugal.

A service was held in the Igreja Matriz de Gondomar church in their hometown of Gondomar near Porto in northern Portugal on Saturday morning.

Mourners lined the streets and some in the crowd clapped as the brothers’ coffins were carried into the church.

The funeral – in pictures

Jota, 28, leaves behind his wife of only 11 days, Rute Cardoso, and three young children.

His younger brother, 25, was an attacking midfielder for Penafiel in the second tier of Portuguese football.

Liverpool manager Arne Slot, captain Virgil Van Dijk and teammates including Andy Robertson, Conor Bradley, Ryan Gravenberch, Cody Gakpo, Curtis Jones, Darwin Nunez and Joe Gomez were seen at the service.

Former teammates Jordan Henderson, James Milner and Fabinho were also there.

Van Dijk carried a red wreath with Jota’s number 20, while Robertson had a wreath featuring number 30, Silva’s number at Penafiel.

Some of Jota’s teammates in the Portuguese national side also attended, including Bruno Fernandes, of Manchester United, Ruben Dias and Bernardo Silva, of Manchester City, Joao Felix and Renato Veiga, of Chelsea, Nelson Semedo, from Wolves, Joao Moutinho and Rui Patricio.

Ruben Neves was one of the pallbearers after flying in from Florida where he played for Al Hilal in the Club World Cup quarter-final on Friday night.

‘More than a friend’

In a post published on Instagram before the service, he told Jota he had been “more than a friend, we’re family, and we won’t stop being that way just because you’ve decided to sign a contract a little further away from us!”

Jota’s fellow Liverpool midfielder, Alexis Mac Allister, said on Instagram: “I can’t believe it. I’ll always remember your smiles, your anger, your intelligence, your camaraderie, and everything that made you a person. It hurts so much; we’ll miss you. Rest in peace, dear Diogo.”

Porto FC president Andre Villas-Boas and Portugal national team manager Roberto Martinez were also in attendance.

‘With us forever’

Speaking after the ceremony, Martinez said the period since their deaths had been “really, really sad days, as you can imagine, but today we showed we are a large, close family.

“Their spirit will be with us forever.”

The service was private, but the words spoken by the Bishop of Porto, Manuel Linda, were broadcast to those standing outside the church.

He told Jota’s children, who were not at the service, that he was praying for them specifically, as well as their mother and grandparents.

“There are no words, but there are feelings,” he said, adding: “We also suffer a lot and we are with you emotionally.”

The brothers died after a Lamborghini they were travelling in burst into flames following a suspected tyre blowout in the early hours of Thursday morning.

No other vehicles are said to have been involved in the incident.

Liverpool have delayed the return of their players for pre-season following Jota’s death and players past and present paid tribute to him and his brother on social media.

Flowers have been left outside Anfield, where flags have been lowered to half-mast and all club shops, museums and tours have been closed until Monday.

UK

Rachel Reeves hints at tax rises in autumn budget after welfare bill U-turn

Published

13 hours ago

July 5, 2025

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Rachel Reeves hints at tax rises in autumn budget after welfare bill U-turn

Rachel Reeves has hinted that taxes are likely to be raised this autumn after a major U-turn on the government’s controversial welfare bill.

Sir Keir Starmer’s Universal Credit and Personal Independent Payment Bill passed through the House of Commons on Tuesday after multiple concessions and threats of a major rebellion.

MPs ended up voting for only one part of the plan: a cut to universal credit (UC) sickness benefits for new claimants from £97 a week to £50 from 2026/7.

Initially aimed at saving £5.5bn, it now leaves the government with an estimated £5.5bn black hole – close to breaching Ms Reeves’s fiscal rules set out last year.

In an interview with The Guardian, the chancellor did not rule out tax rises later in the year, saying there were “costs” to watering down the welfare bill.

“I’m not going to [rule out tax rises], because it would be irresponsible for a chancellor to do that,” Ms Reeves told the outlet.

“We took the decisions last year to draw a line under unfunded commitments and economic mismanagement.

“So we’ll never have to do something like that again. But there are costs to what happened.”

Meanwhile, The Times reported that, ahead of the Commons vote on the welfare bill, Ms Reeves told cabinet ministers the decision to offer concessions would mean taxes would have to be raised.

The outlet reported that the chancellor said the tax rises would be smaller than those announced in the 2024 budget, but that she is expected to have to raise tens of billions more.

It comes after Ms Reeves said she was “totally” up to continuing as chancellor after appearing tearful at Prime Minister’s Questions.

Criticising Sir Keir for the U-turns on benefit reform during PMQs, Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch said the chancellor looked “absolutely miserable”, and questioned whether she would remain in post until the next election.

Sir Keir did not explicitly say that she would, and Ms Badenoch interjected to say: “How awful for the chancellor that he couldn’t confirm that she would stay in place.”

In her first comments after the incident, Ms Reeves said she was having a “tough day” before adding: “People saw I was upset, but that was yesterday.

“Today’s a new day and I’m just cracking on with the job.”

Sir Keir also told Sky News’ political editor Beth Rigby on Thursday that he “didn’t appreciate” that Ms Reeves was crying in the Commons.

“In PMQs, it is bang, bang, bang,” he said. “That’s what it was yesterday.

“And therefore, I was probably the last to appreciate anything else going on in the chamber, and that’s just a straightforward human explanation, common sense explanation.”

UK

Diogo Jota and Andre Silva’s funeral in pictures

Published

14 hours ago

July 5, 2025

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Diogo Jota and Andre Silva's funeral in pictures

The family and friends of Diogo Jota and his brother Andre Silva have been joined by Liverpool stars past and present and other Portuguese players at the pair’s funeral near Porto.

The Liverpool forward, 28, and his brother died in a car crash in Spain on Thursday.

Pictures below show the funeral at the Igreja Matriz de Gondomar church in the town of Gondomar near Porto. Click here for our liveblog coverage of the day’s events.