A man has appeared in court charged with the attempted murder of an 11-year-old girl after yesterday's knife attack in Leicester Square.
Ioan Pintaru, 32, of no fixed address, was also charged with possession of a bladed article in a public place, which Westminster Magistrates’ Court heard was a steak knife.
Dressed in a grey prison-issue sweatshirt, Pintaru, a Romanian citizen, had his charges read to him by an interpreter during the 10-minute hearing.
It comes after an 11-year-old girl and her 34-year-old mother were attacked by a knifeman in London's busy Leicester Square on Monday morning.
The mother was initially thought to have been hurt, but blood from her daughter’s injuries had been mistaken for her own, the Metropolitan Police said. However, the child is said to require plastic surgery due to her injuries.
Here's what we know about the attack.
What we know
The Metropolitan Police was called to reports of the stabbing in the central London tourist spot at 11.34am on Monday.
Investigators said there was no suggestion the incident was terror related and that officers do not believe the suspect and the victims were known to each other.
At Tuesday's hearing, prosecutor David Burns said a woman and her 11-year-old daughter were in Leicester Square as tourists when the defendant approached them outside the TWG Tea shop. He says the suspect placed the girl into a headlock and "stabbed her eight times to the body".
“She sustained wounds to the face, shoulder, wrist and neck area," Burns added. “Fortunately, members of the public intervened, which prevented any further injury being made to the child.”
Burns said officers were called and “found the defendant being held by the members of the public", after which police searched him and found a knife in his possession.
The girl’s 34-year-old mother was initially thought to have also been hurt but blood from her daughter’s injuries had been mistaken for injuries of her own, the Metropolitan Police said.
Her daughter was taken to hospital with serious injuries that are not life-threatening, the force added. However, Burns told the court he understood the girl required plastic surgery for her injuries.
Click below to see the latest London headlines
The Met Police said its officers were on the scene four minutes after being called to the scene. Officers gave emergency first aid to the victims before paramedics arrived at shortly afterwards.
A witness, who gave his name as Desmond, 45, who performs as Darth Vader on the square “every day”, told reporters: “Before I could jump down to go (over there), two guys were just passing, and they grab him, they put him on the ground, and immediately the police came.
"I think the woman was also stabbed once, but the child was the most targeted, he was stabbing the child several times. Police held him and stood him up and cuffed him.”
“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," he added.
A security guard working at nearby Greggs, named Rahul, told the Telegraph how he stepped outside after hearing a girl crying "mummy, mummy".
“There was a lot of blood, when I went there. On the girl and on her hands,” he said, adding that the girl was taken inside the store until police and paramedics arrived.
A worker at the tea shop told the Metro: "It was traumatising to watch. Nothing is safe here in London anymore."
In a statement, 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."
Pintaru was remanded in custody and will next appear at the Old Bailey on 10 September.
What we don't know
We don't know anything about the attacker's motivation at this stage.
Detective Chief Superintendent Jessah said: “An urgent investigation is now ongoing and detectives are working to establish the details around exactly what happened.
"At this stage we don’t believe the suspect and the victims were known to each other. While we continue to work to establish the suspect’s motive, at this stage there is nothing to indicate the attack was terror-related."
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, giving the reference 2745/12AUG.
Read more
Almost half of reported London phone thefts 'screened out' by police (Evening Standard)
Starmer vows to tackle knife crime by Christmas (The Telegraph)
Met officer in Wayne Couzens’ police unit ‘looked for who he could grope in training exercise’ (Evening Standard)
