Man charged with attempted murder in stabbing of 11-year-old girl at London tourism hot spot

LONDON: A man accused of stabbing an 11-year-old girl in London’s bustling theatre district was charged on Tuesday (Aug 13) with attempted murder.
Ioan Pintaru, 32, put the girl in a headlock and stabbed her eight times, seriously wounding her, prosecutors said.
The girl was hospitalised and required plastic surgery for wounds to her face, shoulder, wrist and neck area, added prosecutor David Burns.
Authorities have not offered a motive for the attack, but police said that there was no suggestion the stabbing was terror-related and they do not believe the suspect knew the child or her mother.
The pair, who were tourists, were in the Leicester Square area just before the incident, which Burns said was a “random attack on a child”.
The stabbing happened at about 11.30am local time on Monday at the 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.
“Fortunately members of the public intervened, which prevented any further injury being made to the child,” Burns said.
The girl’s mother was not wounded, though she initially appeared to be because she was covered in her daughter’s blood, police said.
Pintaru, a Romanian citizen, also faces a knife charge.
He appeared at London’s Westminster Magistrates’ Court wearing a grey tracksuit and spoke only to confirm his name and date of birth.
Pintaru was not asked to enter any pleas and was remanded in custody ahead of his next court hearing at the Central Criminal Court, known as the Old Bailey, on Sep 10. 
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 fueled by far-right activists, who used social media to spread misinformation about a mass stabbing in Southport, northwest England, that killed three girls during a Taylor Swift-themed dance event.