An 11-year-old Australian girl, who was repeatedly stabbed by a stranger in an apparent random attack in London, has been released from hospital. The girl and her 34-year-old mother from New South Wales, were in the popular tourist spot, Leicester Square, on Monday when she was attacked. She suffered serious but non-life-threatening injuries and is now recovering with family. A 32-year-old man who is not known to the pair has been remanded in custody, charged with attempted murder.
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00:00It's outside this tea shop in central London at Leicester Square, which is a tourist hotspot,
00:07that this shocking attack happened in broad daylight earlier this week.
00:11The 11-year-old girl who was allegedly stabbed eight times whilst being held in a headlock
00:17is an Australian citizen.
00:19That's been confirmed by the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade.
00:22She was with her 34-year-old mother at the time of the attack, and we understand that
00:27the family is from New South Wales, and they were here on holiday at the time.
00:32She was taken to hospital with serious but non-life-threatening injuries.
00:36She received plastic surgery, but has since been released from hospital.
00:40It was initially thought that her mother was also injured in the attack, but blood from
00:45her daughter's injuries was mistaken for her own.
00:49We've been speaking to people on the streets of London.
00:51Let's take a listen.
00:52I mean, it's a bit shocking for it to be like right in central London, where there's lots
00:55of people as well, right?
00:57So it's just a bit sad that kids under our age have to go through that as well, and I
01:03feel bad for the parents.
01:04I feel like people are just really worried, because usually you see stabbings and stuff
01:08happening in dark places, but there's not lots of people.
01:11And usually when you're around other people, you're meant to feel safer, because you know
01:13if something happens, they can help you.
01:16So when something like that happens, where there's so many people around, it just feels
01:19like, where can you go that it's going to be safe?
01:22We've come to northwest London to meet the security guard who stopped the attack by tackling
01:27the man to the ground.
01:28He tells us how it unfolded.
01:31I heard a scream.
01:32I saw outside there was a guy who was stabbing a girl.
01:36So as I saw them stabbing the girl, I started running towards the guy.
01:40I jumped on the guy, hold his hand, in which he was carrying a knife.
01:44I tackled him down on the floor, and then kicked the knife away from him.
01:49At that time, there was only one thought, to save the kid, to save her mom, nothing
01:54else.
01:56A 32-year-old man, Anand Patari, appeared in court yesterday, charged with attempted
02:02murder.
02:03He was not asked to enter a plea and will reappear in court on September the 10th.
02:08Police don't believe that this is terror-related.
02:11DFAT says that it is providing consular assistance to the family.