Girl, 11, stabbed by stranger in Leicester Square

Girl’s condition is not yet known as police arrest man and say attack is not terror-related

An 11-year-old girl has been taken to hospital after being stabbed by a stranger in London’s West End.
The Metropolitan Police said its officers were at the scene of a stabbing in Leicester Square on Monday where the girl and a 34-year-old were stabbed.
The force said a man has been arrested and is in custody. Police do not believe the suspect knew the victims and said they did not believe the attack to be terror-related.
The girl and the woman have been taken to hospital and their condition is not yet known.
A security guard claimed he “jumped on” and took a knife from a man who had stabbed a child.
The 29-year-old, who gave his name as Abdullah, said he had worked in security at the TWG Tea Shop for the past “seven to eight months”.
He said: “I heard a scream, at that moment I saw there was one person, roughly 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 said and his colleagues had given first aid to the child before the police arrived, adding:  “I just saw a kid getting stabbed and I just tried to save her. It’s my duty to just save them.”
He added that he did not know whether the girl was with family members at the time.
Detective Chief Superintendent Christina Jessah, in charge of policing for Westminster, said: “This is a horrific incident and our thoughts are with the victims and their family. We will continue to provide support to them over the coming days and weeks.
“I would like to pay tribute to the members of the public, including staff from local businesses, who bravely intervened in this incident. They put themselves at risk and showed the best of London in doing so.
“An urgent investigation is now ongoing and detectives are working to establish the details around exactly what happened.
“At this stage we don’t believe the suspect and the victims were known to each other.
“While we continue to work to establish the suspect’s motive, at this stage there is nothing to indicate the attack was terror-related.
“Detectives will be keen to speak to anyone who was in the area and may have information that can assist with their enquiries. I would urge anyone who can help to get in touch.”
A police cordon has been put in place surrounding the double doors of the TWG Tea shop on the square. The cordon is beside the Lego store and in front of the M&M store, with visitors and tourists still standing in queues for each.
At least six police officers were at the scene.
The ambulance spokesman said: “We were called at 11.36am on Monday 12 August to reports of a stabbing at Leicester Square. 
“We sent resources to the scene, including an ambulance crew, an advanced paramedic and an incident response officer. We also dispatched members of our tactical response unit.
“We treated a child and an adult at the scene and took them to a major trauma centre.”
Rahul, a security guard at Gregg’s, was inside the fast-food joint when the stabbing took place.
“I was inside, but I came outside when I heard the noise of the girl crying ‘mummy, mummy’,” he told the Telegraph.
“There was a lot of blood, when I went there. On the girl and on her hands,” he said.
He added that the girl was taken inside the store until an ambulance and police arrived on the scene.
A street performer who witnessed the stabbing said he saw a young, white, male wearing a black T-shirt and jeans attack the pair.
Desmond, 45, said the knifeman focused the attack on the girl, putting her in a headlock and stabbing her.
Desmond, who performs as Darth Vader on the square “every day”, told The Telegraph that he was standing outside the Lego store when the stabbing took place.
He said: “I was looking forwards, and when I heard the screaming I had to turn to the side. And when I looked he [the assailant] was attacking the little girl. He was stabbing her with a knife.”
Before Desmond could get down off his stand he said that two men who appeared to be passing by intervened.
He said: “The two boys who were passing, they rushed the [attacker], and pushed him to the ground. And the police got there really quickly and handcuffed him and put him in a van.”
When the police arrived and put the attacker in cuffs, Desmond told The Telegraph that the attacker did not resist: “He was not fighting or struggling with them, he was not struggling at all.”
Earlier, Desmond told reporters: “I think the woman was also stabbed once, but the child was the most targeted, he was stabbing the child several times.”
He added: “It was so terrible, I’ve never seen a thing like that. I was heartbroken, I saw the woman was screaming with all her strength.”
Leicester Square and the surrounding area have an estimated 2.5 million visitors every week and are home to shops, theatres, cinemas and restaurants.