Aussie girl stabbed in shock London attack

The 11-year-old girl who was allegedly stabbed in a random attack in London’s Leicester Square is from Australia, a new report says.

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An 11-year-old girl who was allegedly stabbed in Leicester Square in London on Monday is an Australian.

The Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade confirmed it is providing consular assistance to two Australians injured in London.

“Owing to our privacy obligations we cannot provide further comment,” a DFAT spokesperson said.

An 11-year-old Australian girl was the victim of a random stabbing in London’s Leicester Square. (Picture: Benjamin Cremel/AFP)

The young girl who was seriously injured in the alleged attack is believed to be from NSW, the ABC reported.

The girl’s injuries while serious, were not life-threatening.

She was reportedly visiting the busy tourist area with her 34-year-old mother at the time of the random attack.

A 32-year-old man, Ioan Pintaru, appeared in a London court charged with attempted murder over the latest stabbing, which shocked the busy tourist centre of Leicester Square on Monday, local time.

Westminster Magistrates’ Court heard that Mr Pintaru, who spoke through a translator, was a Romanian citizen with no fixed address.

Pintaru had “approached the girl, placed her into a headlock, he’s then stabbed her eight times to the body”, prosecutor David Burns told the court.

Mr Pintaru was detained by members of the public and was found with a “steak knife”, it was alleged in court.

The victim, who was a tourist visiting the popular area, was taken to hospital with serious but not life threatening injuries to the face, shoulder, wrist and neck area, Mr Burns added.

“I understand she will require plastic surgery for the injuries that she’s sustained,” he said.

Police have said Mr Pintaru, who was remanded in custody to appear in court again on September 10, did not know the girl or her mother.

A nearby security guard “heard a scream” before tackling the alleged offender to the ground.

The 11-year-old girl and her mother were hospitalised after being stabbed in central London's famous Leicester Square. (Photo by Benjamin Cremel/ AFP)

“I just saw a kid getting stabbed and I just tried to save her. It’s my duty to just save them,” the TWG Tea shop guard, Abdullah, told the Press Association.

“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.”

Abdullah performed CPR on the child before emergency services arrived at the scene.

The alleged attack came two weeks after three girls were allegedly murdered at a Taylor Swift dance class in Southport, northwest England.

The deaths sparked widespread riots across the country, which police have since quelled.

Originally published as Aussie girl stabbed in shock London attack