These are the incredible scenes of ordinary Londoners dealing with an armed man who had just stabbed a passenger on a Tube train.
Muhaydin Mire was found guilty today of one count of attempted murder in relation to the attack at Leytonstone Underground Station last December.
According to the Met, the 30-year-old had travelled to King’s Cross on the afternoon of December 5 last, before travelling on to Stratford, and then ending up at Leytonstone.
There he launched an “unprovoked and brutal attack on a fellow male passenger”.
Man convicted of #Leytonstone tube attack https://t.co/rKjjP5E4BI pic.twitter.com/in73DKdFqB
— Metropolitan Police (@metpoliceuk) June 8, 2016
During the assault, the victim was beaten and forced to the ground, where Mire repeatedly kicked his head before “using a knife he was carrying to attempt to cut his victim’s neck”. Mire then walked out of the station and back in again, and as he did he started lashing out people with the knife – and CCTV footage released by the Met shows incredibly brave London commuters attempting to stop him.
#WalthamForest man found guilty of horrific attack at #Leytonstone tube station.https://t.co/i0Yi1U3UoD
— Metropolitan Police (@metpoliceuk) June 8, 2016
The video shows Mire attempting to knife people on at least four occasions, as well as chasing one victim who was filming his actions. He later admitted this “was an attempt to wound”. His victim on the train survived, thanks in large part to assistance from a doctor who happened to be on the scene.
Police credited these people for restricting Mire’s movements, and basically cornering him until authorities could come to arrest him. When Mire was soon after tasered by police, one witness was captured on video shouting “you ain’t no Muslim bruv”, which subsequently went viral, and was even quoted by prime minister David Cameron.
Commander Dean Haydon, of the Counter Terrorism Command, said:
“I would like to focus not on the terrible actions of Mire last December but the bravery of all of those involved. The junior doctor who gave medical aid to the victim as he lay bleeding on the floor, people who attempted to intervene, people who took video footage which has aided the prosecution and people who engaged Mire and kept his attention, restricting his movement around the station; effectively confining him until the police arrived and detained him.
“This was Londoners responding calmly and sensibly to a very dangerous individual and all should be praised.
“The officers who detained Mire were faced with a man armed with a knife and with blood on his hands, using their Taser, they were able to disarm him quickly and effectively, but I have no doubt it took immense bravery to go forward at that moment.
“Whilst Mire has not been accused of any terrorist offences it would appear from comments he made at the time of the attack and the content he had downloaded on his phone that he may have been inspired by extremist ideology.”
The Evening Standard reports that Mire “had pictures of Islamic State executions, bombings in Syria, and an image of murdered Fusilier Lee Rigby on his mobile phone when he carried out the attack.”
The jury at today’s trial took five hours to find Mire guilty of attempted murder. He has been remanded in custody to be sentenced on July 27.
