A 46-year-old man has appeared in court charged with attempted murder following a knife attack outside an Aldi supermarket in Southampton. The incident occurred on Sunday lunchtime when a weapon was pulled at the entrance to the shop, and a number of people were threatened with the blade.
Two people sustained injuries, which are not thought to be serious. Police were called to the scene and tackled a suspect to the floor before arresting him. One of the first people on the scene was former Apprentice candidate Sohail Chowdhary, who runs a martial arts centre nearby. He and his colleagues distracted the attacker to help others get away, including a soon-to-be father.
Mr Chowdhary said: 'We went to go have a look. We saw a guy with a helmet, then we saw the other guy had a knife. We were a bit like what the heck. The amount of blood he had on his knife we weren't going to risk that.'
Azzedvie Mahmoudi, from Southampton, has been charged with three counts of attempted murder, one of attempted grievous bodily harm, three of threatening a person with a blade in a public place, and one of possessing a blade in a public place. He was remanded in custody and appeared at Southampton Magistrates' Court on Tuesday morning. Hampshire Constabulary have been carrying out additional patrols in the area.
