Hainault stabbings: Police update on ‘horrifically serious’ injuries suffered by officers in sword attack
Police officers who responded to a sword attack in London suffered “horrifically serious injuries” – with one of them having been close to losing her hand, the head of the Metropolitan Police has said.
A 14-year-old boy was killed and four other people were injured in the attack in Hainault on Tuesday morning.
Police have said they don’t think it was a targeted attack, or terror-related, and they were working to establish the circumstances of what took place.
Police were initially called to the scene at 7am with footage showing several officers apprehending a man after he was tasered.
Met Police Commissioner Sir Mark Rowley has said officers “were on the ground in 12 minutes” and that “some of the first contacts led to officers being very severely injured”.
Speaking on LBC this morning, he added: “I was talking to the family and colleagues of the woman officer who has a really badly damaged arm, really seriously damaged, the surgeon spent many hours basically putting her arm back to together.”
The suspect is tasered. Pic: PA
Asked about reports she nearly lost her hand in the attack, Sir Mark said they were “not a million miles away”.
An inspector also suffered a serious hand injury while responding to the incident, with Sir Mark adding: “I saw him before the operation, he was in good spirits, I think that’s partly the morphine to be honest.”
The two officers who required surgery are among the four people who were injured in the rampage.
The other two are members of the public whose injuries are also not thought to be life-threatening.
Sir Mark did not confirm whether the two officers in hospital were the ones seen tasering the attacker.
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Met police officer almost lost hand in attack
The Met chief added that the 36-year-old suspect was detained after 22 minutes.
Dramatic footage has shown the moment he was tasered on a driveway before several officers with batons approached him after he hit the ground.
The words “suspect contained” are eventually heard as a female officer pulls the sword away from the attacker.
Sir Mark said this morning: “People say officers run towards danger.
“What you’ve actually seen on some of the videos that are sort of around social media and on news sites such as your own, you actually see what that really looks like. You’ve got officers running towards someone who’s waving a sword.”
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Footage shows man wielding huge sword. Credit: @ell_pht
Pic: PA
Police have said the suspect crashed a van into a house near the Tube station in Hainault before stabbing a number of people.
The man has not yet been interviewed as he remains in hospital due to the injuries he suffered in the crash.
Metropolitan Police Assistant Commissioner Louisa Rolfe said there has been speculation about the suspect’s background, including police contact with him.
She said that “despite urgent and extensive checks today, we have found no trace of a prior incident involving him so far, but we will of course continue to make those inquiries”.
The suspect is seen on video captured from someone’s property
The scene in Hainault after the suspect crashed his van
Eyewitnesses say man was ‘looking for victims’
James Fernando, someone who lives close to where the rampage took place, said the suspect had asked one of his neighbours to “take the telephone from him to tell whoever was on the phone his location”.
Mr Fernando added: “Within two seconds after that she’s realised something isn’t right, started running and he’s pulled a samurai sword from the back of his trousers.”
He saw the neighbour shout to warn a boy who was on his way to school – but the man attacked him.
“It’s quite traumatising now. I can’t stop envisioning the boy’s face,” Mr Fernando added.
Speaking about what he saw of the suspect, Mr Fernando said: “He was running around, still after the police officers came, with the sword in his hand looking for victims.”
Another witness, who asked not to be named, said he heard shrieks and screams during the rampage.
He said he saw a man dressed in yellow jumping over fences from his back window and heard someone shout: “He’s got a massive knife”.
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Footage shows a man in a yellow jumper chasing after an ambulance while holding a sword as a body lies motionless on the ground.
The home security video shows an ambulance parked next to the body lying on the road in Laing Close before the ambulance quickly drives away from the scene and the man runs after it, shouting.
In another video clip, sent by an anonymous resident, a police car arrives before the man verbally confronts the police and shouts “Is there anybody here who believes in God?” while standing next to the motionless body.
A voice is heard shouting “Drop the sword” before a police officer approaches the man and sprays a substance in his direction before he retreats.
UK drivers are “confused” by the country’s electric car transition, ministers are being warned.
Although most drivers are not hostile towards electric vehicles (EVs), many are confused about what changes are coming and when, according to new research from the AA.
In a survey of more than 14,000 AA members, 7% thought the government was banning the sale of used petrol and diesel cars.
Around a third thought manual EVs exist, despite them all being automatic.
More than one in five said they would never buy an EV.
The government’s plan for increasing the number of electric vehicles being driven in the UK focuses heavily on increasing the supply of the vehicles.
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What you can do to reach net zero
In 2024, at least 22% of new cars and 10% of new vans sold by each manufacturer in the UK had to be zero-emission, which generally means pure electric.
Each year, those percentages will rise, reaching 80% of new cars and 70% of new vans in 2030.
Manufacturers will face fines of £15,000 per vehicle if electric vehicle sales fall short of 28% of total production this year.
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By 2035, all new cars and vans will be required to be fully zero emission, according to the Department for Transport.
Second-hand diesel and petrol cars will still be allowed to be sold after this date, and their fuel will still be available.
There are more EVs – but will people buy them?
In February, 25% of new cars were powered purely by battery and in January, they made up 21% of all new cars registered in the UK.
But despite the growth of electric sales, manufacturers continue to warn that the market will not support the growth required to hit government EV targets, and called for consumer incentives and the extension of tax breaks.
The AA suggested the government’s plan focuses on “supply but does little to encourage demand for EVs”.
It called on ministers to co-ordinate a public awareness campaign alongside the motoring industry which directly targets drivers who doubt the viability of EVs.
“Our message to government is more needs to be done to make EVs accessible for everyone,” said Jakob Pfaudler, AA chief executive.
Which? head of consumer rights Sue Davis said: “When it comes to making sustainable choices such as switching to an electric car, our research shows that people are often held back by high costs, complex choices or uncertainty.
“The government needs to provide the right information on electric vehicles and other sustainable choices so that people have the confidence to switch.”
A Department for Transport spokesperson said: “We’re investing over £2.3bn to help industry and consumers make a supported switch to EVs.
“This includes installing a public charge point every 28 minutes, keeping EV incentives in the company car tax regime to 2030, and extending 100% first-year allowances for zero-emission cars for another year.
“Second-hand EVs are also becoming cheaper than ever, with one in three available under £20,000 and 21 brand new models available for less than £30,000.
“We’re seeing growing consumer confidence as a result.”
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