Ezedi went to the butcher on Tuesday afternoon, wearing a “puffy” black hooded jacket, according to another staff member, also an Iranian Kurd.
Police released CCTV footage of Ezedi an hour after the attack, wearing a black hooded down jacket, his face visibly disfigured.
The butcher added: “He works in a pizzeria. Every two weeks he came here to buy half a sheep.
“He was like, ‘I work at a pizza place at night and I don’t have time to go shopping and you’re closed when I’m done working.’ So he would pay £50 or £60 for the meat. He said he put the meat in the freezer.
“He never bought alcohol”
The butcher adds: “He came during the day. He said: “Cut the meat for me. » I cut it for him and he also bought juice and Persian rice. He would spend around £100 in total.
“He never bought alcohol. He was a good Muslim. Some Muslims buy alcohol. But he never bought alcohol.
“He was a little man, little. He was very respectful, I never saw anything bad about him. One of my clients let me know he was wanted. It’s horrible. If I see him, I’ll call the police.
“But I thought he was respectful and a very good guy, a good Muslim.
“I know he was Afghan. He doesn’t have a wife. I do not think so. I’ve never seen him with a woman. I thought he was single.
The shopkeeper remembers his last conversation with Ezedi about a month ago.
“The last time I had a conversation with him, I asked him why he wasn’t getting married, he said, ‘I don’t have any money. I have to go to Afghanistan to get married, to be with one of our people.
“He said he was always working – seven days is very hard (to find a wife).
“He asked me why I’m not married. I said that I could not return to Iran for political reasons and therefore it was difficult to find a wife. He said: “I have to go back to Afghanistan to find a wife. » He started work at 3 p.m.
When shown a photograph released by the Met Police of the man they are tracking, the trader said: “That’s him. One hundred percent.”
He added that details about Ezedi had been shared among Kurds on a local Instagram group because he was known in east Newcastle.
