Man charged with attempted murder in connection with Golders Green attack

Essa Suleiman has been charged with attempted murder after two Jewish men were stabbed in Golders Green, north-west London, the Metropolitan police has said.The 45-year-old faces two counts of attempted murder and one count of possession of a bladed article in a public place.Officers were called to the area shortly after 11am on Wednesday after reports that two men had been stabbed.Two Jewish men – Shloime Rand, 34, and Moshe Ben Baila, 76, named locally as Moshe Shine – were attacked on Highfield Avenue and taken to hospital.Suleiman was due to appear at Westminster magistrates court on Friday, the Met said.Commander Helen Flanagan, the head of counter-terrorism policing for London, said: “Our thoughts remain with the victims involved and specialist officers continue to provide them with support as their recovery continues. We are determined to get justice for the victims, and now that a person has been charged, I would urge everyone to avoid any further speculation in relation to this case so that justice can run its course.”Rand has been discharged and is recovering at home after receiving stitches, according to the Jewish Community Council, while Shine remains in hospital in a stable condition.Suleiman was born in Somalia and arrived in the UK legally as a child in the 1990s. He was reported to Prevent, the government’s anti-extremism programme, in 2020; the case closed later that year.On Thursday, the UK’s terrorism threat level was raised to “severe” by the Joint Terrorism Analysis Centre, indicating an attack is considered highly likely.The Home Office said the decision was not based solely on the Golders Green attack, noting that the threat level in the UK had been “rising for some time”.The Metropolitan police said pro-Palestine marches across the country would be assessed in light of the change.The Stop the War Coalition is planning a large demonstration in London on 16 May to mark Nakba Day, commemorating the 1948 displacement of Palestinians during the creation of Israel.