A 33-year-old man has been detained indefinitely under the Mental Health Act after launching a random and violent knife attack on an 11-year-old girl in central London's Leicester Square.
A Holiday Turned to Horror
The victim, an Australian child on holiday with her mother, was targeted on 12 August 2024 shortly after 11.30am. The pair had just left the Lego store, where they had been buying presents for family. Ioan Pintaru, who has no fixed address, approached the girl, placed her in a headlock, and stabbed her eight times in the face, neck, and chest.
In a witness statement read at the Old Bailey, the girl's mother described seeing Pintaru attack her daughter with his arm moving "like a jackhammer", using "as much force as he could". She told the court she believed with absolute certainty she was watching her daughter being killed, a moment she now relives repeatedly.
Brave Intervention and Lasting Scars
The frenzied assault was stopped by the swift actions of a security guard named Abdullah, who was working at a nearby TWG Tea shop. He grabbed the hand holding the knife, causing Pintaru to drop the weapon, which Abdullah then kicked away. Along with two other men, he pinned the attacker down until police arrived minutes later.
A nurse who was passing by stopped to help stem the girl's bleeding. Judge Richard Marks KC commended Abdullah for his "bravery" and ordered he be rewarded with £1,000 from public funds.
While the girl, now 13, has physically recovered from her wounds, prosecutor Heidi Stonecliffe KC told the court that "invisible scars" remain. The child is deeply conscious of her scars, and the psychological effects are expected to last a lifetime.
Mental Health and Indefinite Detention
Pintaru originally faced an attempted murder charge, but the prosecution accepted his psychosis at the time meant intent to kill could not be proven. He pleaded guilty in October to causing grievous bodily harm with intent and possession of a knife.
Assessments revealed Pintaru told a psychiatrist he believed he was being followed and felt the only way to save himself was to be sent to prison. He had previously been admitted to a psychiatric hospital in Romania.
On Tuesday 16 December 2025, he was sentenced at the Old Bailey. The judge imposed a hospital order under section 37 of the Mental Health Act with a restriction order under section 41, meaning Pintaru can be detained indefinitely for treatment.
Judge Marks stated the attack had cast a "shadow" over the victim and her mother, who now constantly scans for danger and struggles with guilt and allowing her daughter independence.
