Chemical attack will happen again as it's 'too easy' to get substances - expert

03 February 2024 , 09:07

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Abdul Shokoor Ezedi, pictured on CCTV in a London Tesco, has a significant facial injury

Laws around possession of chemicals must be tighter as it is "too easy" to carry out attacks like the one which left a mum and little girl with "life-changing injuries" this week, a crime expert has argued.

Further ordeals will happen again and again unless punishments are stronger and it is more difficult to access acids and other chemicals, Dr Liam Brolan, a senior lecturer in Criminology, told the Mirror. His stark warning comes after a 31-year-old mum and her two daughters, the youngest of whom is three, were attacked with a corrosive substance in Clapham, south London on Wednesday evening. The mum and the three-year-old have sustained potentially "life-changing injuries," police said.

The alleged assailant, convicted sex offender Abdul Shokoor Ezedi, 35, is said to have travelled from Newcastle to London - more than 280 miles - to carry out the vile attack. However, he remains on the run.

Although the substance was an alkaline, figures released by Metropolitan Police show there has been a 45 per cent increase in reported acid attacks in the past year - on the previous 12 months. This is despite awareness raised following the ordeals of Katie Piper in 2008, Sophie Hall in 2017 and other high-profile cases.

Police issue this image of Ezedi who they continue to pursue (Metropolitan Police/AFP via Gett)

Forensic officers examined a car, said to have been used by Ezedi in Clapham (Marcin Nowak/LNP)

Speaking to the Mirror, Dr Brolan, who lectures at Birmingham City University, said: "It is concerning. It is too easy... First and foremost, you need to look at the availability of these substances. There was some research not long ago that said in the majority of these attacks, household bleach was being used. I think the accessibility of this particular weapon, if you like, is easy, you can get it online and this may be linked to some of the increased incidences.

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"It might actually be harder for the police to detect people in possession of acid or other corrosive substances, compared to, for example, a knife. Those substances can almost be hidden in plain sight really. They can be concealed in containers and remain there, unless they are tested to see they actually are what they say they are on the label. It might be slightly easier for people to conceal them on their person. I think ease of access can be a problem."

Katie Piper, 40, suffered major damage to her face and blindness in one eye after she was attacked with acid by her ex-boyfriend and an accomplice in March 2008. Katie needed 400 operations after the attack left her with horrific burns. In this instances, sulphuric acid was used - and this can be picked up anywhere, including the internet, with little challenge.

Superintendent Gabriel Cameron spoke to the media at the scene of the chemical incident (Philip Coburn)

Dr Brolan continued: "What can be done, potentially, is tighter regulations. I think there is something to say for law enforcement approaches to it. I think it's also about educating people about the subject of violence and also the implication of these incidences." The lecturer suggested tougher laws for those found carrying specific substances - without reason or, in some cases, a licence - would help deter chemical horrors.

Ezedi is believed to have used an alkaline in Wednesday. Met Police Superintendent Gabriel Cameron described the man as having “significant injuries to the right side of his face”. He was last seen at a supermarket in north London on Thursday evening, but the motivation for the attack remains unclear.

Dr Brolan said: "I think there are certainly those cases where the patient's motivation for using these sorts of substances may well be based on jealousy or humiliation or those sorts of things... When it comes to violent crime, it's about educating people of the consequences. It's not as prominent in the public consciousness, as issues such as gun crime and knife crime. Yet, there's a number of high profile incidents.

"I argue that the intention (with a chemical attack) isn't to kill, it is actually to disfigure, and leave permanent and lifelong irreversible damage on a victim. It's a way, not only to cause physical injury to the victim, which will be with them for the rest of their live, but also to cause the psychological harm. Your face is the outwards-facing representation of you as a person, and if you are throwing acid into somebody's face, it will be disembodied."

Dr Liam Brolan, senior lecturer in Criminology at Birmingham City University, spoke to the Mirror about chemical attacks (Birmingham City University)

Sophie Hall was one of multiple people hurt by Arthur Collins, who sprayed a corrosive substance at Mangle nightclub in Hackney, east London, on April 17, 2017. Collins had been on both the giving and receiving end of gangland violence, the Mirror reported. CCTV footage shows Collins laughing and joking an hour after he had hurled the corrosive substance - as strong as hydrochloric acid - at the victims, who by then had gone to hospital for treatment.

Collins told the court he thought the liquid was a date rape drug, which he had snatched from two men after overhearing them planning to spike a girl's drink. There was no suggestion Collins planned further crimes, but experts say chemicals are often used as distraction tools.

Sophie Hall had acid thrown in her face in a London nightclub

Katie Piper was attacked by a man named Stefan Sylvestre, who was jailed (Instagram)

Dr Brolan added: "Acid might also be used as almost as a distraction technique in order to facilitate other crimes, such as theft or whatever it might be. There are a number of sort of instrumental advantages really of using this first to maintain some of the distance between yourselves and the victim. This clearly wouldn't be the case if you were using a knife.

"There's also the element of surprise as well. You can be just driving fast, and throw the substance out the window, which will quite clearly come as a shock. There is definitely that personal, interpersonal element to it, but its also kind of fragmented I would say."

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Ezedi was granted asylum to stay in the UK despite his conviction. Rishi Sunak, though, said on Friday he does not think “foreign criminals should be able to stay” in the UK when asked about the suspect in the chemical attack. The police have warned the police not to approach Ezedi, but to call 999 and any information can be given via the telephone number 0207 175 2784.

Bradley Jolly