Mum of man suspected of stabbing girl in Leicester Square says she is ‘sorry’

The mother of a man suspected of stabbing an 11-year-old girl in Leicester Square has said she feels ‘deeply sorry for what happened’.

The youngster, an Australian who was on holiday with her family, was stabbed ‘eight times’ at the central London tourist hot spot on Monday morning.

She was taken to hospital with non-life-threatening injuries, including wounds to her face, shoulder, wrist and neck.

Ioan Pintaru, 32, of no fixed address, has been charged with attempted murder and the possession of a bladed article in a public place

His mother, Magda Girla, told the MailOnline that she last spoke with her son the morning of the attack, which police said took place just before 11.35am.

‘Please send this message to everybody, I’m deeply sorry for what happened to that little girl,’ she said from Pintaru’s hometown of Pucioasa, Romania.

‘I suffer together with her mother and I can’t describe the pain I’m in. I’m also a mother and I understand what she must be going through.’

Girla said her son worked as a long-distance lorry driver for the past decade, living a relatively quiet life before moving to England six years ago. He returned home in May 2022 before going back to Britain in May.

The full-time carer for her elderly father said she only sporadically heard from her son after this, not knowing where he lived.

Pintaru allegedly held the girl in a headlock while stabbing her outside the TWG Tea shop, the court was told on Tuesday.

Initial media reports said the girl’s mother was also injured. However, police later clarified this was not the case and that the ‘blood from her daughter’s injuries had been mistaken for injuries of her own’.

Video footage from Leicester Square, which is packed with shops and theatres, showed police arresting a man wearing a T-shirt with ‘Abbey Road’ printed on the front.

Pintaru was remanded in custody and is due to appear at the Old Bailey on September 10.

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