Key Points
- The girl was stabbed eight times in a “random attack” on Monday.
- She was taken to hospital with serious injuries, but her life is not in danger.
- There is no indication the attack was linked to terrorism, police said.
An 11-year-old girl who was seriously injured in a knife attack in central London is Australian, the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT) said.
The girl was stabbed eight times in a “random attack” on Monday when a man allegedly approached her and her mother in Leicester Square.
She was taken to hospital with serious injuries but her life is not in danger, police said Monday.
The girl’s mother, 34, was initially thought to have also been injured, but police said blood from her daughter’s wounds was mistaken for her own injuries.
DFAT confirmed on Wednesday it was providing consular assistance to two Australians in London. The family is believed to be from New South Wales, ABC reported.
A 32-year-old man appeared in court Tuesday charged with attempted murder of the girl in what prosecutors called a “random attack.”
Ioan Pintaru was also charged with possession of a sharp article after the girl was stabbed eight times on Monday afternoon in Leicester Square, a tourist hotspot in central London that is home to shops and theaters.
“The defendant approached the 11-year-old girl, put her in a headlock and then stabbed her eight times in the body,” Burns said.
She suffered injuries to her face, shoulder, wrist and neck, he said.
The court heard members of the public intervened and when police arrived they found a man restrained on the ground.
There is no indication the attack was linked to terrorism, police said.
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