A man charged in connection with the stabbing of an 11-year-old girl in central London has been identified publicly for the first time.
Ioan Pintaru, 32, faces charges of attempted murder and possession of a bladed weapon, following an attack on the girl in Leicester Square, Sky News reports.
He is accused of stabbing her “eight times” after seizing her while she was with her mother.
Initial reports mistakenly suggested the girl’s 34-year-old mother was also injured in the incident, but police later clarified that the blood on her was from her daughter’s injuries.
During the court proceedings, it was revealed that Pintaru, a Romanian national with no fixed address, allegedly attacked the girl while she and her mother were visiting Leicester Square as tourists.
Prosecutor David Burns described how the man “approached the girl, placed her in a headlock, and then stabbed her eight times in the body.” The girl sustained injuries to her face, shoulder, wrist, and neck.
Burns informed the court that the girl remains hospitalized and will require plastic surgery. Police were called to the scene at 11:34AM on Monday after receiving reports of the stabbing.
The girl was found with serious but not life-threatening injuries and was promptly taken to the hospital.
Pintaru has been remanded in custody and is scheduled to appear at Westminster Magistrates’ Court later on Tuesday.
The defendant spoke only, via an interpreter, to confirm his name, and date of birth, and stated he had no fixed address.
A shop security guard recounted how he “heard a scream” and “jumped on” the attacker, restraining him and disarming him.
“I saw a child being stabbed and just tried to save her. It was my duty,” said Abdullah, 29.
He added that he and his colleagues provided first aid to the girl before police arrived on the scene, which occurred within four minutes of the attack on Monday morning.
The police commended the courage of those who intervened to help.
As for Pintaru, he is due to appear at the Old Bailey in September.
Featured image credit: Metropolitan Police
Man pictured and named after he’s charged with stabbing 11-year-old in Leicester
A man charged in connection with the stabbing of an 11-year-old girl in central London has been identified publicly for the first time.
Ioan Pintaru, 32, faces charges of attempted murder and possession of a bladed weapon, following an attack on the girl in Leicester Square, Sky News reports.
He is accused of stabbing her “eight times” after seizing her while she was with her mother.
Initial reports mistakenly suggested the girl’s 34-year-old mother was also injured in the incident, but police later clarified that the blood on her was from her daughter’s injuries.
During the court proceedings, it was revealed that Pintaru, a Romanian national with no fixed address, allegedly attacked the girl while she and her mother were visiting Leicester Square as tourists.
Prosecutor David Burns described how the man “approached the girl, placed her in a headlock, and then stabbed her eight times in the body.” The girl sustained injuries to her face, shoulder, wrist, and neck.
Burns informed the court that the girl remains hospitalized and will require plastic surgery. Police were called to the scene at 11:34AM on Monday after receiving reports of the stabbing.
The girl was found with serious but not life-threatening injuries and was promptly taken to the hospital.
Pintaru has been remanded in custody and is scheduled to appear at Westminster Magistrates’ Court later on Tuesday.
The defendant spoke only, via an interpreter, to confirm his name, and date of birth, and stated he had no fixed address.
A shop security guard recounted how he “heard a scream” and “jumped on” the attacker, restraining him and disarming him.
“I saw a child being stabbed and just tried to save her. It was my duty,” said Abdullah, 29.
He added that he and his colleagues provided first aid to the girl before police arrived on the scene, which occurred within four minutes of the attack on Monday morning.
The police commended the courage of those who intervened to help.
As for Pintaru, he is due to appear at the Old Bailey in September.
Featured image credit: Metropolitan Police
Girl, 13, reportedly dies after being served hot chocolate from popular coffee chain
A girl has reportedly passed away after being served a hot chocolate drink from a popular coffee shop brand.
Now, we all enjoy getting ourselves a little sweet treat when we’re out but for some people with allergies, it can be extremely difficult to do that without the added fear of human error or cross-contamination.
In the case of 13-year-old Hannah Jacobs, getting a drink from the popular coffee branch Costa turned out to be one of the last things she ever did.
Hannah, who is from London, tragically passed away last year after a suspected anaphylactic reaction to a hot chocolate drink her mother had purchased from a local branch before heading to a dentist appointment.
As per the Daily Mail, the teenager suffered from multiple allergies such as dairy, egg, fish, and wheat, which she was vigilantly aware of throughout her life.
But during a visit to Costa last year, things took a turn for the worst.
According to legal firm Leigh Day, Hannah’s mom allegedly notified the barista of her daughter’s allergies, stressing the importance of making sure her drink was suitable for her condition.
However, when Hannah took a sip of the drink in the waiting room of the dental practice, she immediately noticed something was off, notifying her mom that she didn’t think the milk used was soy.
The pair were forced to leave the dentist and rush to a nearby pharmacy for help. Staff at the local establishment gave Hannah an EpiPen in the hopes that it would calm the reaction down, but her body went into anaphylactic shock.
During anaphylaxis, the immune system releases a flood of chemicals that can cause the body to go into shock resulting in extremely low blood pressure as well as the narrowing of airways.
This makes it difficult for the person to breathe and within seconds, their heart rate increases but also gets weaker as the airways continue to restrict oxygen to the organs.
Other symptoms involve an itchy skin rash as well as nausea and vomiting.
An ambulance arrived at the scene, though they could not resuscitate the teen and she was pronounced dead early that same afternoon.
The inquest will be held at East London Coroner’s Court on Monday, as per a recent report published by the Daily Mail.
The trial is expected to last approximately a week and will go into depth examining how Hannah died with the help of 11 witnesses and experts.
It has been reported that approximately 500 to 1000 people in the United States die from an allergic reaction every year, though those numbers are steadily increasing.
Our thoughts are with Hannah’s family during this difficult time and we hope that they manage to get justice for the loss of their daughter.
