Leicester square stabbing: Indefinite detention for knifeman

A paranoid schizophrenic who launched a ferocious and random knife attack on an 11-year-old Australian tourist in London’s West End has been ordered to be detained indefinitely in a secure medical facility to protect the public from further harm.

Ioan-Alexandru Pintaru, 33 (DOB: 17.01.1992), of no fixed address, appeared at the Old Bailey on Tuesday, 16 December, where he was sentenced by the Common Serjeant of London, Judge Richard Marks KC.

The defendant had previously entered guilty pleas to charges of wounding with intent to cause grievous bodily harm and possession of a bladed article. Due to the acute nature of his psychosis at the time of the offence, the Crown Prosecution Service accepted that a charge of attempted murder could not be pursued as the specific intent to kill could not be legally established.

The court heard extensive details regarding the events of 12 August 2024. At approximately 11:30hrs, the young victim and her mother were departing the Lego Store in Leicester Square after purchasing gifts for family members.

The area was densely populated with tourists when Pintaru, a Romanian national and former lorry driver, selected the child entirely at random. Without warning, he approached the girl from behind, placed her in a headlock, and began to stab her repeatedly with a folding knife.

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Prosecutor Heidi Stonecliffe KC described the assault to the court, noting that the victim initially felt a heavy weight crash into her before realising she was being stabbed.

Witnesses described Pintaru’s demeanour as "manic" and "wide-eyed," with the victim’s mother stating in her evidentiary deposition that the attacker used the weapon like a "jackhammer," striking her daughter with furious repetition.

The child sustained eight separate wounds to her face, neck, shoulder, and chest. Medical evidence indicated that the blade missed the victim’s vital arteries and brain by a margin of millimetres, a fact the prosecution described as miraculous.