South Asian man recognised for bravery after Leicester Square attack

Abdullah, a security guard at TWG Tea shop, helped disarm an alleged knife attacker in Leicester Square and is now being recognised for his bravery at the Pakistan High Commission in London. 

The 29-year-old told the Australian Broadcasting Commission (ABC), after being the guest of honour at the Pakistan Independence Day event held by the High Commission on Wednesday, that he heard screams before running towards the incident. 

The Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT) confirmed it was “providing consular assistance” to two injured Australians after Monday’s attack. 

He told ABC: “I would say that I’m a brave person. We Pakistanis are brave by heart, so I wasn’t scared. 

“I’ve never seen anything like it before; it was horrible.” 

An 11-year-old girl was allegedly stabbed “eight times” by Ioan Pintaru, 32. The Metropolitan Police confirmed she suffered serious injuries that were non-life threatening. 

The girl’s mother, 34, was believed to have been hurt as well, but police have said that blood from her daughter’s injuries had been mistaken for hers. 

A DFAT spokesperson confirmed it is “providing consular assistance to two Australians injured in London” but said he was unable to “provide further comment” due to privacy obligations. 

He said: “We would, however, ask that the privacy of the family is respected at this difficult time.” 

Pintaru has been charged with the attempted murder of the girl and possession of a bladed article in a public place, said in court to be a steak knife. 

He appeared at Westminster Magistrates’ Court on Tuesday, where the court heard that Pintaru is a Romanian citizen of no fixed address, and the charges were read to him through an interpreter during the 10-minute hearing. 

David Burns, the prosecutor, said that a woman and her 11-year-old daughter were in Leicester Square as tourists when a man “approached the girl, placed her into a headlock, he then stabbed her eight times to the body”. 

He said she was wounded in the face, shoulder, wrist and neck area. 

The court heard members of the public intervened, and when police arrived, they found a man being held on the ground. 

Mr Burns told the court the girl was still in hospital undergoing treatment and that she required plastic surgery. 

Police said on Monday that there was no suspicion of this attack being terror-related, and they do not believe that the suspect and victims were known to each other.