Security guard recognised for bravery after Leicester Square attack

The security guard who helped disarm an alleged knife attacker in Leicester Square has been recognised for his bravery at the Pakistan High Commission in London.

The Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT) confirmed it was “providing consular assistance” to two injured Australians after Monday’s attack.

The 29-year-old security guard, known as Abdullah, told the Australian Broadcasting Commission (ABC) he “heard a scream” before running towards the incident, after being the guest of honour at the Pakistan Independence Day event held by the High Commission on Wednesday.

He told ABC: “I would say that I’m a brave person. We Pakistanis are brave by heart. So I wasn’t scared.

“I’ve never seen anything like it before, it was horrible.”

An 11-year-old girl was allegedly stabbed “eight times” by Ioan Pintaru, 32. The Metropolitan Police said she suffered serious injuries that are not life-threatening.

The girl’s 34-year-old mother was initially thought to have been hurt, but blood from her daughter’s injuries had been mistaken for injuries, police said

A DFAT spokesman confirmed it is “providing consular assistance to two Australians injured in London” but said he was unable to “provide further comment” due to privacy obligations.

“We would however ask that the privacy of the family is respected at this difficult time,” he said.

Pintaru has been charged with the attempted murder of the girl and possession of a bladed article in a public place, said in court to be a steak knife.

He appeared at Westminster Magistrates’ Court on Tuesday wearing a grey prison-issue sweatshirt.

The court heard Pintaru is a Romanian citizen of no fixed address and the charges were read to him through an interpreter during the 10-minute hearing.

Prosecutor David Burns said a woman and her 11-year-old daughter were in Leicester Square as tourists when a man “approached the girl, placed her into a headlock, he’s then stabbed her eight times to the body”.

He said she was wounded in the face, shoulder, wrist and neck area.

The court heard members of the public intervened and when police arrived they found a man being held on the ground.

Mr Burns told the court the girl was still in hospital undergoing treatment and that she required plastic surgery.

Police said on Monday that there was no suggestion the incident was terror-related and officers do not believe the suspect and the victims were known to each other.