An 11-year-old girl stabbed in a London tourism hot spot on Monday is from Australia.
Ioan Pintaru put the girl in a headlock and stabbed her eight times, seriously wounding her, prosecutor David Burns said.
The girl was hospitalised and required plastic surgery for wounds to her face, shoulder, wrist and neck area.
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It was initially thought the girl’s mother, who is also Australian, had been stabbed too because she was covered in her daughter’s blood.
The Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade confirmed it was in contact with the mother and daughter.
“The Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade is providing consular assistance to two Australians injured in London,” an official said.
“Owing to our privacy obligations we cannot provide further comment.”
Pintaru has been charged with attempted murder.
Authorities haven’t offered a motive for the attack, but police said that there was no suggestion the stabbing was terror-related and they don’t believe the suspect knew the mother or daughter.
The attack happened about 11.30am on Monady in Leicester Square, a tourism hot spot, outside a shop selling tea.
An employee of the tea shop and other bystanders jumped on the suspect and held him to the ground until police arrived. A steak knife was recovered.
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“Fortunately members of the public intervened, which prevented any further injury being made to the child,” Burns said.
The girl’s mother wasn’t wounded, though she initially appeared to be because she was covered in her daughter’s blood, police said.
Pintaru, 32, a Romanian citizen, who also faces a knife charge, was held in custody. He was ordered to appear on September 10 at the Central Criminal Court known as the Old Bailey.
The stabbing occurred during a recent rise in knife crime in Britain, which is on edge after days of violence as crowds spouting anti-immigrant and Islamophobic slogans clashed with police in dozens of cities and towns.
The disturbances were fuelled by far-right activists, who used social media to spread misinformation about a mass stabbing that killed three girls during a Taylor Swift-themed dance event.
– Reported with Associated Press
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