Terror attack suspect Essa Suleiman has been charged with attempted murder after the stabbing of two Jewish men in Golders Green, north London
A suspect has been charged after the Golders Green attack(Image: TIM ANDERSON)
A suspect has been charged after the stabbing of two Jewish men in Golders Green.
Terror attack suspect Essa Suleiman has been charged with two counts of attempted murder and one count of possession of a bladed article in a public place over the incident in north London, the Metropolitan Police said.
Suleiman, of Camberwell, south London, was also charged with attempted murder in relation to a separate incident in Great Dover Street in Southwark earlier the same day. He will appear at Westminster Magistrates’ Court on Friday.
Police tasered and arrested the suspect after the double stabbing on Wednesday which saw two Jewish men – Shloime Rand, 34, and Moshe Ben Baila, 76 – taken to hospital.
Mr Rand told the BBC it was a “miracle” he survived, adding: “I feel like God’s given me back my life.” He has been discharged from hospital and is now recovering at home after receiving stitches, Rabbi Levi Schapiro from the Jewish Community Council, who has visited both victims, said on social media. Mr Shine remains in hospital and in a stable condition.
The suspect was a British national, was born in Somalia and came to the UK legally as a child in the 1990s, Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood said on Thursday.
Metropolitan Police Commissioner Mark Rowley previously said the suspect had a “history of serious violence and mental health issues”.
The force later confirmed the suspect was reported to Prevent – the Government’s anti-extremism programme – in 2020 but the case was closed the same year.
Sir Keir said the Government needed to be “open to learning any further lessons that may come out of this investigation” on Prevent, noting changes were made after the 2024 mass stabbing in Southport.
It comes as the UK terrorism threat level was raised to “severe” in the wake of the Golders Green stabbings, meaning a terror attack is “highly likely”.
The Joint Terrorism Analysis Centre announced the decision on Thursday, the day after the attack. The body, which is based in MI5 but makes independent assessments, previously set the threat level at “substantial”, meaning an attack was “likely”.
The decision is not solely a result of the Golders Green attack, the Home Office said, adding that the terrorist threat level in the UK has been “rising for some time, driven by an increase in broader Islamist and extreme right-wing terrorist threat from individuals and small groups based in the UK”.
