Moment bystanders ‘throw tables and chairs’ to stop knifeman after woman pushing buggy stabbed in London street
21 October 2022, 15:26 | Updated: 21 October 2022, 15:28
This is the moment bystanders chased and caught an alleged knifeman after a woman was stabbed in a west London coffee shop.
The woman, in her 30s, was treated at the scene and taken to hospital following the attack at a cafe in Edgware Road yesterday morning, the Metropolitan Police said.
A man was detained by members of the public and has been taken to hospital. A group of bystanders are understood to have intervened by throwing tables and chairs to thwart an attacker as he tried to flee the scene.
The owner of a shop across the road said a group of men chased and beat the suspected attacker and held him before police arrived.
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Omar Awada, 47, said: "He tried to run away but the local guys managed to catch him and they beat him until the police came.
"It was like Tom And Jerry, they were on him right and left, the guys", Mr Awada said.
One man, said to have knocked the alleged attacker down with a bicycle, was described as a "hero" by a witness.
The witness, who did not want to be identified, said: "We heard screaming, we came out, the guy had a knife, he was stabbing the woman repeatedly, maybe five or six times.
"Maybe 30 people or 40 people were chasing him. They were from our community.
"They used anything in their hands to stop him.
"When people chased him he tried to escape and scare people with the knife, but we had one hero who put him down on the ground. He hit him with his bike."
Forensics investigators have been combing the scene for evidence and taking photographs.
A police cordon was set up around Maison Du Sultan and a neighbouring Costa coffee shop, with officers standing guard.
A glass shisha pipe lay on its side on the ground outside the front door of Maison Du Sultan, while three chairs and a small table were also knocked over.
A first aid bag could be seen next to a coat and a pair of boots in a neighbouring doorway. These were later collected in a clear plastic bag by a police officer.
The force said it is believed the victim and suspect are known to each other.
Specialist firearms officers were among those responding but no taser or police firearms were discharged, the force confirmed.
Detectives charged Waleed Ali, 54, of no fixed address, with attempted murder and possession of a knife in a public place.
