Ezedi's case shows all that's wrong with our asylum system

THE HUGE manhunt for Clapham chemical attacker Abdul Ezedi dominated the headlines last month, before a body recovered from the River Thames was formally identified as that of the 35-year-old Afghan national. But if the authorities hoped the story would end with the discovery of his apparent suicide, they will be sorely disappointed.

- Esther Krakue

Revelations about the convicted sex offender – granted asylum after supposedly converting to Christianity, despite his crimes – keep on coming.

His presence in the UK came to light after a woman and two girls were attacked with a corrosive substance in South London on January 31. And many troubling questions remain: why he was here, how was he allowed to remain in the UK and, perhaps most crucially, how many others like him are out there?

Immigration files published this week reveal Ezedi was granted asylum even after he was found to have lied repeatedly about his background and failed a Christianity test – the very basis for his application for asylum in Britain.

Concerns about his honesty had been raised when he claimed to be a Shia Muslim despite a judge at another hearing finding Ezedi had worshipped as a Sunni for many years. He also said his brother was shot dead when the Taliban bombed his home in Afghanistan, despite previously saying he was shot at a mosque.

CLEARLY, the man was not trustworthy, though his legal team later laid the blame on a translator. Yet it is the complicity of Baptist minister Rev Roy Merrin that truly beggars belief.