‘Terrorist incident’ left victim with five inch gash across neck
An East London man, inspired by extremist ideology, will be sentenced in July for attempted murder following a chilling knife attack at a London Underground station in December last year.
Thirty-year-old Muhaydin Mire forced his victim to the ground following a vicious assault, kicking him in the head before attempting to cut his neck.
The blade left a 12cm gash that required five hours of surgery.
Police initially described the attack, in Leytonstone station, as a ‘terrorist incident’ after Mire was heard shouting his actions were ‘for Syria’.
“Whilst Mire has not been accused of any terrorist offences it would appear from comments he made at the time of the attack and the content he had downloaded on his phone that he may have been inspired by extremist ideology,” said Commander Dean Haydon in a statement.
In court, Mire pleaded guilty to four counts of attempted wounding – having attacked several other people during the incident – but denied trying to kills his victims.
A jury at London’s Old Bailey court found him guilty of one count of attempted murder. He will be sentenced in July.
Meanwhile, the police have also said that members of the public, who filmed the incident on their mobile phones, had helped the prosecution.
Some of the footage was posted on the Internet shortly after the attack, including images of a bystander shouting ‘You ain’t no Muslim, bruv’ – a phrase which circulated widely and was applauded by Prime Minister David Cameron.
After stabbing his first victim and leaving him in a pool of blood, Mire exited the station and returned again, lashing out at people with the knife. He was seen chasing one person who had been filming the attacks.
A doctor, present at the scene, rushed to help the bleeding victim whilst onlookers attempted to keep Mire’s attention through speaking with him and restricting his movements until police arrived.
“This was Londoners responding calmly and sensibly to a very dangerous individual and all should be praised,” Commander Haydon added.
The tube incident came less than one month after extremist attacks in Paris which killed over 130 people.
