Girl, 11, stabbed eight times in Leicester Square attack is an Australian on a family holiday
14 August 2024, 12:07 | Updated: 14 August 2024, 13:21
An 11-year-old girl stabbed eight times with a steak knife in Leicester Square has been revealed to be an Australian tourist who was on holiday with her family.
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The victim, who will require plastic surgery, was allegedly put in a headlock by Ioan Pintaru, 32, who is accused of attacking her before being restrained by members of the public and arrested by police.
The girl, from New South Wales, was with her mother, 34 at the tourist spot when she was stabbed "eight times".
She was left with injuries to the face, shoulder, wrist and neck after the 'random attack' which will now see her require surgery.
The incident left the girl's 34-year-old mother covered in blood, leading many to believe she had also been wounded in the incident, which took place in Leicester Square, London, on Monday.
The stabbing took place at the TWG tea shop in the heart of the tourist hotspot, in what police believe is a random attack and was not believed to be terror-related.
A security guard working at the shop was branded a "hero" after he attempted to restrain the attacker and protect the young girl.
Following the attack, the 11-year-old was taken to hospital with serious injuries that are not believed to be life-threatening, the force said.
The suspect has since been charged with attempted murder and possession of a bladed article.
Appearing at Westminster Magistrates’ Court on Tuesday morning, the suspect wore a grey prison-issue sweatshirt as he appeared in the dock.
Prosecutor David Burns told the court the mother and her daughter were visiting the tourist hotspot on holiday when a man “approached the girl, placed her into a headlock, he’s then stabbed her eight times to the body”.
A local security guard, who witnesses say tackled the knifeman to the ground, told LBC: "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."
He and his colleagues gave first aid to the child before the police joined in, he said.
Appearing on Tuesday, the court heard how the suspect was a Romanian citizen with no fixed address and is believed to have no link to the victim or her mother.
Mr Burns added: "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."
They said at first they had mistakenly reported that the girl's mother, 34, was also hurt because she had her daughter's blood on her.
Pintaru was remanded in custody and will next appear at the Old Bailey on September 10.
