Clapham alkali attacker Abdul Shokoor Ezedi was ‘very angry’ and vowed to avenge the armed robbers who shot his sister dead in his native Afghanistan, a friend has revealed.
Ezedi, 35, had been sending money back to his family in Afghanistan which he had earned while working in a pizza takeaway in Tyneside, northern England.
A close friend, who worked alongside Ezedi in the takeaway, has revealed how distraught the chemical attacker was after his sister was shot dead by armed robbers who were trying to steal the money he had sent home.
The 33-year-old friend, who is an Iranian asylum seeker, also revealed that Ezedi is from a strict Muslim family and believed his father would be enraged by his conversion to Christianity.
Ezedi’s colleagues were shocked when he was arrested for a sexual assault and exposing himself – offences committed against two different women within a few weeks of each other.
He was given a suspended sentence and released on an electronic tag but went on to find new employment, enrol on a college course in Newcastle and was eventually granted asylum at the third time of asking.
The Afghan suspect secured the churches¿ support despite being a convicted sex attacker. Pictured: In CCTV after the attack

Ezedi arrived in Britain in the back of a lorry in 2016 and had twice been refused asylum by 2018

Abdul Ezedi was caught on CCTV footage buying groceries the day before the attack in Newcastle
Although Ezedi – known to friends as Shapoor – was fired after his sexual offending, he found a new job and they stayed in touch.
The friend said: ‘Shapoor is a very intelligent, hard working man whose focus was to earn as much as possible so that he could send money home to his family in Afghanistan.
‘He did that from the time he arrived in the UK and came to Newcastle, he spent nothing and saved the money for his family.
‘But in around 2017 or 2018 it became known in his neighbourhood that he had sent a large amount of money to his family and there was a robbery on his home.
‘His family fought back to defend their home and he told me that his sister was shot dead. He was so upset and very, very angry.
‘He said that he would take revenge on the people who had done that to her. After what happened he was crying for three weeks and he said he wanted revenge
‘When I heard what happened in London that came into my mind.’
There is no evidence that the attack in Clapham had any connection to the robbery in Afghanistan and friends of Ezedi are mystified by the motive.
The friend said: ‘He was single the whole time I knew him, he didn’t have a wife or children.

Ezedi allegedly threw the younger child to the ground during the attack at 7.25pm, before attempting to drive away from the scene, crashing into a stationary vehicle and fleeing on foot

Abdul Ezedi, 35, was last seen near a railway bridge over the Thames in London last Wednesday ¿ just hours after he allegedly targeted the victims
‘When I saw his face in the news and read what he was accused of doing I was so shocked. Other than his anger over his sister’s murder, I have never known him to want to harm anyone.
‘Working in a pizza shop there were always people trying to start a fight but he would always avoid trouble, he never reacted.’
Ezedi’s friends were shocked by his arrest and conviction for sexual assault and indecent exposure.
His friend said: ‘It was so out of character, we were so shocked to discover what he had done to the two women.
‘One was a sexual assault and after that he exposed himself to a woman who was on her way to catch a bus.
‘He didn’t go to jail but was released and had a tag on his leg. He lost his job but he applied for new work and as soon as his tag was taken off he found a new job and continued to send money home.
‘He’s very intelligent. He speaks very good English and got onto a college course in Newcastle to improve his English, that was important to him.’
He described Ezedi’s apparent conversion to Christianity as ‘a joke.’


Abdul Ezedi at King’s Cross underground station at 9pm on February 2
The friend said: ‘His father was a strict and devout Muslim is a Haji and a very respected man in the community at home.
‘If Shapoor has converted to Christianity, he won’t be going back to Afghanistan because his father would be so furious.
‘Whenever he spoke to his father he would be asking him, are you praying? Are you fasting? Are you living as a good Muslim, it was so important to him that Shapoor was living as he had in Afghanistan.
‘The idea that he is now a Christian is a joke but he loves money and he loves his passport so maybe he did it for that reason.
‘I have no idea where he could be. He has a brother in London but will know he cannot go there.
‘It was such a shock for me and everyone who knows him that this has happened. He needs to give himself up to the police and end this.’
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