The man suspected of stabbing two Jewish people in Golders Green has been named as Essa Suleiman.
Suleiman, 45, is a Somali-born British national with a long history of violence and mental health problems, police have said.
He was referred to Prevent in 2020, but the case was closed later that year.
It is understood Suleiman previously worked as a school security guard.
Police across the UK have stepped up patrols in response to the attack that saw two Jewish men – Shloime Rand, 34, and 76-year-old Moshe Ben Baila, named locally as Moshe Shine – taken to hospital after being stabbed on Golders Green Road.
Essa Suleiman, 45, is a Somali-born British national with a long history of violence and mental health problems, police have said
While one of the police officers managed to throw the knife away, another officer as well as the bystander gained control of the man’s arm
CCTV image reportedly shows the moment Moshe Shine was stabbed while waiting for a bus
The stabbings are the latest in a series of attacks on Jewish sites over recent weeks and have prompted calls for urgent action and accusations the Government has not done enough to tackle anti-Semitism.
Chief Rabbi Sir Ephraim Mirvis called for ‘meaningful action’ to tackle the ‘root causes’ of anti-Semitism, while the Board of Deputies of British Jews said anti-Semitism must be ‘confronted, punished and deterred with the full force of the state’.
Iranian-linked terror group Harakat Ashab al-Yamin al-Islamiyya (HAYI) claimed responsibility for the attack yesterday, but intelligence sources suggested this was ‘opportunistic’. The group provided no evidence it was behind the stabbings.
Today protesters in Golders Green showed their anger at Sir Keir as he finally visited the scene of the attack, 24 hours after it occurred, calling him a ‘coward’ for not facing them.
One of the victims Shloime Rand, 34, said from his hospital bed today that he held the Government responsible and that it is a ‘miracle’ he survived being stabbed in the chest.
At lunchtime the Labour leader’s police convoy took him away from the crowds heckling him. He was instead whisked into a closed doors meeting at the new headquarters of the local Jewish ambulance service Hatzollah.
Protester Mendy Muster, 23, an accountant and Golders Green local told the Daily Mail: ‘We all think he is a coward for not answering us directly. He does want to be held accountable.
‘He knows he has let us down. He knows it is his fault and he taking too long. He should have been yesterday let alone today. He is not doing enough he is not preventing anything he is reacting’.
Sir Keir held a roundtable with first responders and leaders from Hatzola as well as Shomrim, a volunteer Jewish security group.
He was joined by Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood and Sarah Sackman, MP for Finchley and Golders Green, as well Metropolitan Police Commissioner Sir Mark Rowley.
This is a breaking news story. More to follow.
