A security guard has recounted the moment he leapt into action when he saw an 11-year-old Australian girl allegedly being stabbed in London’s tourist district.
The child was visiting Leicester Square with her mother when she was allegedly grabbed by a man, placed in a headlock, and stabbed eight times in her face, neck and torso about 11.30am (8.30pm AEST) on Monday.
The girl is understood to be from NSW, the ABC reported.
London security guard Abdullah has told how he leapt into action when he saw the girl being attacked.
Abdullah, who was working as a security guard for the TWG Tea store, recounted his heroic action in an address to the Pakistani high commission in London for a celebration of Pakistan’s Independence Day on Tuesday.
“I was on my duty. It was half past 11. I heard a scream and I looked and there was a guy that was stabbing a kid that was 11 years old. I didn’t think anything, I just ran toward the guy, I jumped on him, grabbed his hand in which he was carrying a knife,” he said as the audience broke out into applause.
“The second [the knife] fell on the floor ... I kicked the knife away from him. In the meantime a couple more guys came … we held him on the floor for four to five minutes, I shouted around ‘please call the police, call the ambulance services’.”
Abdullah said he was inspired by the actions of the Pakistani military he’d seen as a child in his home country and called on his community to be courageous in the face of adversity.
“I will ask the Pakistani community, be brave. We are Muslims, we are Pakistanis, and Pakistanis are brave from the heart … Please if anything is going to happen, don’t think about the consequences, go and save … if there is anything wrong going on, go and protect them,” he said.
The girl was taken to hospital and required surgery for wounds to her face, shoulder, wrist and neck area, local police said.
The girl’s 34-year-old mother wasn’t wounded, though she initially appeared to be because she was covered in her daughter’s blood, police said.
A steak knife was recovered at the scene.
The Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade said the two Australians were being offered consular assistance.
Ioan Pintaru, 32, was arrested at the scene. On Tuesday, he appeared in court and was charged with attempted murder and a charge of knife possession.
Ioan Pintaru was arrested after allegedly stabbing an 11-year-old Australian girl in London’s Leicester Square, and has been attempted murder.Credit: Facebook
Authorities haven’t offered a motive for the attack, but police said there was no suggestion the stabbing was terror-related and they don’t believe the suspect knew the mother or daughter.
Pintaru, who is a Romanian citizen, is next due to face court on September 10.
With AP, AAP
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