UK man appears in court over stabbing of Muslim man, two Jewish men in London

A 45-year-old man appeared in a London court ​on Friday, charged with attempted murder over an attack during which a Muslim man was stabbed in south London and two Jewish men were stabbed in Golders Green, north London, ‌in what police are treating as a terrorist incident.

Pro-Palestinian marches, where critics have conflated anti-zionism with anti-semitism, could now face new restrictions amid widespread calls for more protection for Britain's Jewish community.

According to The Guardian, Essa Suleiman, 45, appeared at London's Westminster Magistrates' Court, after being accused of stabbing two Jewish men in Golders Green on Wednesday, having already attacked a Muslim man Ishmail Hussein over a personal dispute in south London.

Suleiman, a British national who was born in Somalia, was also charged with attempted murder in relation to a separate incident earlier on the same day in south London, when prosecutor Emma Harraway said he had visited a man's home and allegedly tried to stab him.

He allegedly then travelled to the north ​of the British capital later that day, she said.

The first victim, Rand, had been studying at a synagogue in Golders Green and was ​wearing "traditional clothing associated with an Orthodox Jewish man" when Suleiman allegedly ran at him and stabbed him with the knife, Harraway said.

Suleiman then allegedly attacked Shine, also ‌wearing ⁠traditional Jewish attire, as he waited at a bus stop, the prosecutor added, before the suspect was arrested by police using a stun gun, Harraway said.

Rand suffered a punctured lung but has since been released from the hospital, while Shine suffered a stab wound to his neck, although the wound was not life-threatening.

Suleiman, flanked by two security guards, appeared in the dock wearing a grey tracksuit, and ​was remanded in custody until his ​next appearance at London's Old Bailey ⁠court on May 15.

Read More: UK police charge man over stabbing of two Jewish men in London

Speaking only to confirm his name and date of birth, he did not indicate any pleas to the charges, and the court was told by the prosecution that his address was a ​mental health facility in south London.

The incident has taken on a political dimension ​ahead of local government ⁠elections on May 7, which are likely to see Starmer's Labour Party suffer heavy losses and could even trigger an internal challenge to his leadership.

Starmer, who has condemned the incident and ​pledged more funding and tougher legislation, was heckled by a small group of people when he visited, as was London police chief Mark Rowley