A 33-year-old man has been detained indefinitely in a psychiatric hospital after launching a random and brutal knife attack on an 11-year-old Australian girl in London's Leicester Square.
A Frenzied Attack in Broad Daylight
Ioan Pintaru, a Romanian national, seized the child and stabbed her eight times in the face, neck, and chest with a large kitchen knife. The attack occurred at approximately 11:30 am on August 12 last year, as the girl and her mother were leaving the Lego store.
The court heard that Pintaru put the girl in a headlock and began stabbing her 'furiously and repeatedly'. Her mother described his arm moving 'like a jackhammer' as he used 'as much force as he could'. The mother screamed, 'why are you doing this?' at a man she said had a 'crazed and vacant expression'.
Heroic Intervention and Lifelong Trauma
The victim, who had been on a European holiday after watching the Australian women's football team at the Paris Olympics, told police she believed she was going to die. She was only saved when a nearby security guard, named as Abdullah, intervened.
Abdullah managed to grab the hand holding the knife, forcing Pintaru to drop the weapon, which he then kicked away. Two other men helped pin the assailant to the ground until police arrived minutes later. Passing nurses rushed to stem the girl's bleeding.
Prosecutor Heidi Stonecliffe KC said the girl felt Pintaru's weight on her and the blood running down her face, leaving her 'understandably terrified'.
Indefinite Detention and a 'Shadow' Over the Family
At the Old Bailey on Tuesday, Pintaru, who was homeless at the time and has a child in Manchester, was sentenced. He had previously pleaded guilty to causing grievous bodily harm with intent and possession of a knife.
Judge Richard Marks KC imposed a hospital order under Section 37 of the Mental Health Act with a restriction order under Section 41, meaning Pintaru can be detained indefinitely. The judge commended Abdullah and ordered he be awarded £1,000 from public funds.
The court was told the girl, now 13, has mostly recovered physically, but her mother said the scars mean she will always remember the ordeal. One wound was centimetres from her eye, with others near major arteries and her windpipe.
In a victim impact statement, the mother described 'a profound sense of emotional and psychological harm', saying the family now lives with a constant shadow and scans for danger. 'She feels a deep sense of guilt for not having been able to protect her daughter,' Judge Marks said.
The court heard Pintaru had a history of psychiatric hospitalisation in Romania and had stopped taking his medication prior to the attack due to limited insight into his condition. Psychiatrists concluded he was suffering from psychosis during the assault.
Judge Marks told Pintaru: 'I am in no doubt that you continue to represent a significant danger to the public. I anticipate it will be a long time before you will no longer be considered to be dangerous.'
