The suspect in the Golders Green knife attack has appeared in court charged with attempted murder.
Essa Suleiman, 45, 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 Golders Green, the Metropolitan Police said.
Suleiman, of Camberwell, south London, was also charged with attempted murder of a “friend” in Great Dover Street in Southwark earlier the same day.
He appeared at Westminster Magistrates’ Court on Friday morning and was remanded in custody.
Police tasered and arrested the suspect after the double stabbing which saw two Jewish men – Shloime Rand, 34, and Moshe Ben Baila, 76, named locally as Moshe Shine – taken to hospital.
The development comes as the Metropolitan Police said pro-Palestine marches will be reviewed after the UK terrorism threat level was raised to “severe”.
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Sir Mark Rowley: 'British Jews should be treated like any other British citizen”
The UK terrorism threat level was raised to “severe” by the Joint Terrorism Analysis Centre on Thursday, meaning a terror attack is “highly likely”.
Sir Mark Rowley has called for people to reflect on the levels of antisemitic attitudes in society after the stabbings of two Jewish men in north London on Wednesday.
Asked on LBC about what people should do in reaction to the threat level being raised, he said: “It’s two things. There’s the practical about being alert, so don’t be alarmed, don’t be afraid, but be alert and help us by giving us information.
“Secondly, I think everybody should reflect on the levels of antisemitic attitudes in society and we should all call it out, because these are British Jews.
“Israeli foreign policy, however much you may like or dislike that, that is not relevant in terms of attitudes to British Jews, who should be treated like any other British citizen.”
Sir Mark Rowley: 'Pandemic of antisemitism in society'
Metropolitan Police commissioner Sir Mark Rowley has been speaking to the media this morning.
Sir Mark Rowley said he is “very concerned” about the sustainability of the police’s current approach to protecting Jewish communities in London following the double stabbing in Golders Green.
He told Times Radio: “I’m very concerned about the sustainability of our current approach, which is based on drafting resources from across London to augment the local teams.
“The horrific attack took place on Wednesday. That evening, I put a proposal into Government about what it would take to be able to sustain this with a dedicated, enhanced neighbourhood policing presence focused on Jewish communities and some extra specialist resources, such as more firearms officers to support them, (the) best parts of 300 extra officers that we’re looking at, and I hope we get some resolution on the funding conversations with Government imminently.
“It’s good they’ve made some interim funding announcements, but to be able to recruit and sustain that, I need some urgent updates.”
He also warned “we’re facing a sort of building, sort of pandemic of antisemitism in society”, adding “we need work done upstream to tackle those attitudes in society, which are far too prevalent”.
Suspect set to appear in court this morning
Essa Suleiman will appear at Westminster Magistrates’ Court this morning to face two counts of attempted murder and one count of possession of a bladed article in a public place following the Golders Green attack.
The Met has confirmed that Suleiman, 45, has also been charged with attempted murder in relation to a separate incident on the same date in Great Dover Street, Southwark.
Commander Helen Flanagan, head of Counter Terrorism Policing London, said: “Our thoughts remain with the victims involved and specialist officers continue to provide them with support as their recovery continues.
“We are determined to get justice for the victims and now that a person has been charged, I would urge everyone to avoid any further speculation in relation to this case so that justice can run its course.”