Church limited Clapham attacker’s attendance

Abdul Shokoor Ezedi, 35, arrived in the UK in 2016 from Afghanistan. He was granted asylum after two applications and an appeal. A key factor was his June 2018 baptism at Grange Road Baptist Church in Jarrow. He won asylum in 2020 after proving his conversion to Christianity.

The letter was sent to the First Tier Tribunal, which handles asylum applications. It was sent eight months after the case was referred to the tribunal. The tribunal said it would consider the application if it was supported by other evidence. The application was denied by the tribunal because it was not supported by all the evidence, it said.

Abdul Ezedi was convicted of sexual assault and exposure in February 2018. His sentence was suspended and he had to do unpaid work. His appeal was handled by Collingwood Immigration Services in Newcastle. The tribunal questioned why a person who had been threatened by the Taliban would travel without his parents, who were also under threat.

Ezedi had to agree to a safeguarding contract after his conviction. In the documents he expressed shame for his actions and said he understood the importance of not lying. A separate letter in July 2017, pre-dating Ezedi’s convictions, saw him described by a project worker at the Catholic Diocese of Hexham and Newcastle Justice and Peace Refugee Project. The mosque often asks for donations to help with the funerals of those who died without known relatives.

But when it asked for donations in this case, some from the community were upset. One mosque-goer said Ezedi had attacked innocent people and as he had converted to Christianity, it was the church’s responsibility to bury him.