A judge has ruled the man who stabbed an 11-year-old Australian tourist in central London last year will be detained at a mental hospital indefinitely.
Romanian national Ioan Alexandru-Pintaru, 33, attacked the young girl as she exited a toy store in Leicester Square on August 12, 2024.
His frenzied attack only stopped when a security guard from a nearby business intervened.
This year, Pintaru pleaded guilty to wounding with intent to do grievous bodily harm, and possessing a knife, however the Crown Prosecution Service did not pursue the more serious charge of attempted murder.
At the Old Bailey on Tuesday, local time, Judge Richard Marks KC sentenced Pintaru, who was homeless, under the Mental Health Act.
Additional restrictions were placed on his detention at a high-security mental hospital, meaning the United Kingdom's Justice Department will effectively decide when, or if, he's released.
Since the attack, it has been revealed Pintaru is living with schizophrenia. On the day he stabbed the young girl, who cannot be identified for legal reasons, he thought people were trying to kill him.
In a witness statement read out in court, the young Australian girl's mother said Pintaru attacked her daughter "like a jackhammer", adding he "was wide-eyed and manic like nothing was going to stop him".
Detective Constable Laura Nicoll, from London's Metropolitan Police, led the investigation.
"It was a savage and brutal attack that left the city in shock," she said in a statement released after the verdict.
"But following the most appalling scene, we also saw the best of London — a security guard who raced from his post without a thought of his own safety, the off-duty nurse who tended to the little girl's wounds.
"Without them, she might not be alive today. The guard was commended by the court, and we would like to add to that our sincere admiration for his selfless act.
"This happened in the very heart of London, an area which is currently packed with tourists visiting over Christmas. We continue to work tirelessly to prevent further violence on our streets."
The security guard, a Pakistani national named Abdullah, told the ABC shortly after the attack he was "a brave person".
"We Pakistanis are brave by heart as. So I wasn't scared," he said.
He described the attack, saying: "I started running towards the guy. I jumped on the guy and held his hand, which was carrying the knife.
"I tackled him down on the floor and then kicked the knife away from him. And there were a couple of guys who came for help and they grabbed him as well."
The young Australian, who's now 13, sustained injuries to her eye, neck, chest and shoulder in the attack, and spent one night in hospital.
