A 14-year-old boy was killed and four other people injured on Tuesday April 30 in east London by a man armed with a sword. The latter, quickly arrested by the police, was charged with murder on Wednesday May 1, police announced.
Marcus Aurelio Arduini Monzo, who has dual Spanish and Brazilian nationality, is being prosecuted for the murder of Daniel Anjorin, Scotland Yard reported. Four other people were injured, including two police officers, so he was also charged with two counts of attempted murder and two counts of wounding, the police said in a press release. The suspect must be presented to court on Thursday.
Earlier on Wednesday, police in the British capital detailed the itinerary of the attacker, who was quickly arrested. “We are starting to have an idea of what happened on Tuesday” but the investigation is “complex,” Chief Inspector Larry Smith, in charge of the investigation, explained in a press release.
Terrorist motive ruled out
Shortly before 7 a.m. (8 a.m. Paris time) on Tuesday, witnesses contacted police after seeing a van crash into a fence in front of a house near the Hainault metro station. “A 33-year-old man was hit [by the van] then he was attacked by the suspect and was injured in the neck,” detailed the head of the investigation. A 35-year-old man then suffered "lacerations to his arm" after being attacked at a nearby property, then the suspect attacked a 14-year-old boy, Daniel Anjorin, who died from his injuries shortly after. after being transported to hospital.
The police, who arrived on the scene "twelve minutes after the first call", first attempted to neutralize the suspect with a stun bomb and their electric pulse gun, but without success. Two of them were seriously injured by the suspect, who “fled again before being surrounded by other officers” on a nearby street. He was finally arrested “twenty-two minutes” after the first call to the police.
Injured, he was first taken to hospital and “is now in police custody,” according to the police report. According to initial checks, he was not known to the police for previous incidents. The police have ruled out a terrorist motive at this stage.
14,577 stabbing attacks in London
Conservative Prime Minister Rishi Sunak denounced a “shocking incident”. “My thoughts are with those affected and their families,” he wrote on X, adding that “such violence has no place on our streets.” The Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, said he was “absolutely devastated” by the attack.
“Following the horrific scenes in Hainault this morning,” King Charles III’s “thoughts and prayers” “are with all those who have been affected, particularly the family of the deceased young victim,” a Buckingham spokesperson said Palace.
Stabbing attacks are on the rise in the United Kingdom, where mobilization is increasing to ask the government to act. According to official figures, they increased by 7% in 2023, almost 50,000, in England and Wales. In London, they skyrocketed by 20% with 14,577 attacks recorded, returning more or less to their level before the Covid-19 pandemic.
The subject is an angle of attack for the Conservatives against the Mayor of London, currently campaigning for a third term. On Monday, Rishi Sunak said that the increase in knife crimes in London “highlighted the reality of the Labor Party” when it is in charge. The government promised last year to ban certain types of knives or machetes, without realizing its ambition for the moment.
“It’s not about the election. There is a family who lost a child and I think we should focus on that,” Sadiq Khan responded on Tuesday, when asked on Sky News about the impact of this attack two days before the vote.
