Clapham chemical attacker was granted asylum despite failing Christianity test

Abdul died while on the run after dousing his ex-girlfriend with alkali when he pounced on her and her children (Picture: PA)

Clapham chemical attacker Abdul Ezedi was granted asylum despite failing a Christianity test and the Home Office warning he was ‘using religion for his own ends’.

Previously confidential documents reveal how Ezedi’s conversion was accepted as genuine even though he flunked basic questions about his supposed new faith.

During an interview to test the validity of his religious adaptation, he claimed the Old Testament was about Jesus and one of the disciples was named Jacob.

Ezedi’s body was pulled from the River Thames last month following a nationwide manhunt.

He died while on the run after dousing his ex-girlfriend with alkali when he pounced on her and her children, aged eight and three, in south London, in January.

Ezedi’s conversion to Christianity and the role that played in his asylum claim sparked debate on the overall issue of the involvement of faith leaders in conversions and asylum applications.

Documents from his lawyer in support of his asylum claim state that Ezedi began attending Grange Road Baptist church in Jarrow in February 2016, did an Alpha course and was ‘baptised by total immersion’ on June 24, 2018.

Grainy, black and white images of both his baptism and his so-called street ministry, whereby he handed out church leaflets to passers-by, are included in the documents bundle.

Photo issued by the Judicial Office of Abdul Ezedi (left) being baptised (Picture: Judicial Office/PA Wire)

Photo issued by the Judicial Office of Abdul Ezedi (left) handing out church leaflets in the street(Picture: Judicial Office/PA Wire)

Ezedi arrived in the UK on January 8, 2016, but his initial asylum claim was refused by the Home Office (Picture: PA)

The rarely-made-public immigration tribunal court papers were obtained by media organisations after legal representations.

They lay bare the lengths the Afghan national went to evidence his religious conversion from Islam.

The papers also show how some of those who supported him during the process were aware of his crimes and how he even signed an agreement to be escorted during church services as a result.

Ezedi arrived in the UK on January 8, 2016, but his initial asylum claim was refused by the Home Office, with an appeal later rejected by the courts the following year, according to the documents.

It was only after this that he revealed he had converted to Christianity, the Telegraph reports, claiming he had ‘forgotten’ to tell officials he was a regular at Grange Road Baptist Church in Jarrow, Tyne and Wear.

Ezedi challenged the decision again in March 2019 by lodging an appeal with the First-tier Tribunal (Immigration and Asylum Chamber), arguing he feared persecution because of his religion.

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In evidence to the tribunal, the Home Office submitted it did not accept Ezedi’s conversion was ‘genuine and long-lasting’.

The agency also said he had previously lied, continued to be ‘dishonest’, and was someone prepared to ‘use religion for his own ends’, according to the Telegraph.

In his Home Office interview, Ezedi said the Old Testament was about ‘Jesus Christ’ – despite insisting he read the Bible every day for three years.

When asked to name Jesus’s followers, he asserted: Asked to name Jesus’s main followers, he replied: ‘Simon, Peter, Jacob, Andrew…12 people, Disciples.’

And pressed on what God created on the third day, he claimed: ‘Good Friday and Easter Sunday and Resurrection Day.’

However, in a ruling dated November 10, 2020, Judge WK O’Hanlon, sitting in the First-tier Tribunal (Immigration and Asylum Chamber), said that although Ezedi was not ‘honest in relation to other aspects of his claim’, that did not ‘automatically mean that his evidence in relation to his claimed conversion could not be believed’.

The judge said: ‘Having considered all of the evidence before me in the round, notwithstanding my concerns as to the honesty of the appellant in relation to certain aspects of his account, I find that the appellant had been consistent in his evidence with regard to his conversion to Christianity.’

CCTV of Abdul Ezedi while he was on the run (Picture: PA)

The papers confirm his claim was granted after a hearing in Newcastle on October 28, 2020.

Lawyers representing Ezedi argued he had ‘converted from Shia Islam to Christianity (Baptist)’.

A letter from Reverend Roy Merrin, former ministry team leader at Grange Road Baptist Church, described Ezedi as having ‘established a good relationship with the other church members and is always willing to help as required’.

The letter, dated August 28, 2018, confirmed Ezedi’s baptism and stated: ‘Abdul has been ready to share his faith in Christ with non-Christians.

‘I hope that this information will be of assistance, and I would support his application to remain in this country.’

The letter came eight months after Ezedi’s sex offences conviction.

He avoided jail after pleading guilty to charges of sexual assault and exposure, instead being placed on the sex offender register for 10 years and ordered to carry out 200 hours of unpaid work when he was handed a suspended sentence at Newcastle Crown Court on January 9, 2018.

An undated document entitled ‘safeguarding contract’, in Ezedi’s name, set out the conditions for his attendance at the Baptist church, in light of his convictions.

It included a requirement that he had to ‘stay in the vicinity’ of an appointed male supporter during services and was not allowed to sit alone in church ‘at any time’.

Following publication of the documents, Baptists Together, a movement of more than 1,800 local churches of which Grange Road is one, said it ‘did not corporately support or sponsor’ the asylum application, and that the personal letter of support ‘commenting solely on Abdul Ezedi’s observed faith journey was written by a retired Baptist Minister’.

The safeguarding contract was agreed between the church and Ezedi and 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’.

Baptists Together said: ‘The Home Office make the final decision on asylum applications and have access to full criminal records data to enable them to do this.’

In support of his asylum claim, Ezedi’s lawyers stated that his conversion from being a Shia Muslim to a Baptist Christian would be publishable in his native Afghanistan by execution.

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