ROMANIAN MAN WHO STABBED GIRL, 11, EIGHT TIMES IN LEICESTER SQUARE ATTACK IS DETAINED INDEFINITELY
A man who 'furiously and repeatedly' stabbed an 11-year-old girl in a random knife attack in Leicester Square has been detained indefinitely in a mental hospital.Romanian Ioan Pintaru, 33, grabbed the girl and stabbed her eight times in her face, neck, and chest with a large kitchen knife as she left a Lego store with her mother around 11:30 am on August 12 last year.
The Australian girl, who cannot be named for legal reasons, had been holidaying in London with her mother after visiting Paris for the Olympics and women's football.
She told police she thought she was going to die after Pintaru's attack.
Pintaru, who had previously been admitted to a psychiatric hospital in Romania and had stopped taking his medication, put her in a headlock and began stabbing her 'furiously and repeatedly', her mother reported, describing his arm as moving 'like a jackhammer' with 'as much force as he could'.
Her mother shouted 'why are you doing this?' and believed he was trying to kill her with a 'crazed and vacant expression'.
The attack was stopped after a security guard, named only as Abdullah, apprehended and disarmed Pintaru, making him drop the weapon before kicking it away.
Prosecutor Heidi Stonecliffe KC stated: 'Having been released from the defendant's grip, [the girl] fell to the ground.
Her mother, saw blood all over her face.' The girl, now 13, has mostly recovered from her wounds, but her scars will serve as a constant reminder of the attack.
Injuries included a wound centimeters from her eye, two scars to her cheek, and wounds to her neck, shoulder, and near her arteri and trachea.
She described feeling blood running down her face and being terrified.
Pintaru became emotional during a police interview when shown photos of the injuries and CCTV footage, expressing distress and claiming he did not want to offend but believed he was being followed and that the only way to save himself was to get sent to prison.
Initially charged with attempted murder, the prosecution later accepted his plea of guilty to causing grievous bodily harm with intent and possession of a knife.
He was sentenced at the Old Bailey to a hospital order under Section 37 of the Mental Health Act and a restriction order under Section 41, which allows indefinite detention.
Judge Richard Marks KC noted the victim impact statement from her mother, describing her grief and trauma, and emphasized Pintaru's limited insight into his condition and his history of stopping medication, indicating he remains a significant danger to the public.
Pintaru, who was working in the UK as a lorry driver and reportedly suffers from persecutory beliefs, was in the dock with health workers.
He believed his parents paid to make him gay and that his former partner was paid to poison him and make him impotent.
The attack occurred while Pintaru was homeless, and he has a four-year-old child in Manchester.
The court said it will likely be a long time before he is no longer considered a threat, if at all.
