A man appeared in court today charged with attempted murder and possession of a bladed article after an 11-year-old girl was stabbed in London‘s Leicester Square while on holiday with her mother.
Ioan Pintaru, 32, of no fixed address, attended Westminster Magistrates’ Court this morning, which was told the bladed article involved was a steak knife.
He appeared in court wearing a grey prison-issue sweatshirt and it was heard that he is a Romanian citizen. The charges were read to him through an interpreter during the ten-minute hearing following the stabbing at 11.34am yesterday. Pintaru was remanded in custody and will next appear at the Old Bailey on September 10.
Prosecutor David Burns said a woman and her 11-year-old daughter were in Leicester Square as tourists when the defendant ‘approached the 11-year-old girl, placed her into a headlock, he’s then stabbed her eight times to the body’.
He added: ‘She sustained wounds to the face, shoulder, wrist and neck area. Fortunately members of the public intervened, which prevented any further injury being made to the child.’
Police officers stand in front of the cordoned off area in London’s Leicester Square yesterday
Mr Burns said officers were called and ‘found the defendant being held by the members of the public’.
The prosecutor added: ‘He was detained and searched and found a knife on his person.
‘In relation to the complainant – she was taken to hospital and she currently resides in hospital where she’s undergoing treatment.
‘I understand that she required plastic surgery for the injuries she sustained.’
The girl’s 34-year-old mother was initially thought to have also been hurt but blood from her daughter’s injuries was mistaken for injuries of her own, the Metropolitan Police said. The girl went to hospital with serious but not life-threatening injuries.
Detectives added that that there was no suggestion the incident was terror-related, and they do not believe the suspect and the victims were known to each other.
A police cordon sealing off the crime scene surrounded the double doors of the TWG Tea shop, which is beside the Lego store and in front of the M&Ms store.
Discarded clothing and emergency medical equipment in the TWG Tea shop yesterday
A shop security guard who works at TWG Tea revealed yesterday how he leapt in to help the girl while she was being attacked.
The guard, who gave his name as Abdullah, 29, said: ‘I heard a scream, at that moment I saw there was one person, roughly (in their) mid-30s or early 30s, and he was like stabbing a kid.
‘I jumped on him, held the hand in which he was (carrying) a knife, and just put him down on the floor and just held him and took the knife away from him.
‘Then a couple of more people joined as well, and we just held him until the police came, it took maybe three to four minutes for the police to arrive and then they just took him into custody.’
Abdullah said he and his colleagues gave first aid to the child before the police took over and that he did not know if the girl was with family members at the time.
Police officers at the scene in London’s Leicester Square yesterday after a man was arrested
Security guard Abdullah, 29, who works at TWG Tea shop in Leicester Square, revealed yesterday how he leapt in to help the girl while she was being attacked
‘I just saw a kid getting stabbed and I just tried to save her. It’s my duty to just save them,’ he said.
Another witness, who gave his name as Desmond, 45, said the suspect in the attack was a white, skinny male wearing a black T-shirt and jeans.
He said the knifeman focused the attack on the girl, putting her in a headlock and stabbing her.
Desmond, who performs as Darth Vader on the square ‘every day’, told reporters: ‘When I looked to my side, I saw a young man… was stabbing her several (times) with a knife.’
He added: ‘It was so terrible, I’ve never seen a thing like that. I was heartbroken, I saw the woman was screaming with all her strength.’
Leicester Square and the surrounding area attracts an estimated 2.5million visitors every week and is home to shops, theatres, cinemas and restaurants.
An aerial view of the police cordon at the scene in London’s Leicester Square yesterday
Darth Vader performer Desmond speaks to reporters in Leicester Square yesterday
Detective Chief Superintendent Christina Jessah said: ‘This is a horrific incident and our thoughts are with the victims and their family. We will continue to provide support to them over the coming days and weeks.
‘I would like to pay tribute to the members of the public, including staff from local businesses, who bravely intervened in this incident. They put themselves at risk and showed the best of London in doing so.
‘An urgent investigation is now ongoing and detectives are working to establish the details around exactly what happened.’
Witnesses or anyone with footage or images of the incident have been asked to call 101 or to contact Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111, ref 2745/12AUG