Leicester Square: Australian girl, 11, 'stabbed eight times' released from hospital

An 11-year-old girl who was stabbed “eight times” in Leicester Square has been released from hospital.

The victim needed plastic surgery after the horror attack on Monday.

She was an Australian tourist from New South Wales who had been visiting London while on holiday with her family, according to ABC.

“The Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade is providing consular assistance to two Australians injured in London,” a Canberra official said.

Ioan Pintaru allegedly stabbed the child “eight times” in what police believe to be a random attack after grabbing her while she was with her mother.

The 32-year-old, who appeared at Westminster Magistrates’ Court on Thursday, is charged with the attempted murder of the girl and possession of a bladed article in a public place, said in court to be a steak knife.

His mother Magda Girla allegedly told the Daily Mail from her hometown of Pucioasa near the capital, Bucharest: “'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.”

She said her son had worked as a lorry driver and moved to the UK six years ago and had a four-year-old daughter.

Prosecutor David Burns told the court the girl was with her mother on a tourist visit to London when a man “approached the girl, placed her into a headlock, he’s then stabbed her eight times to the body”.

He said she was wounded in the face, shoulder, wrist and neck area.

The court heard members of the public, including a security guard, intervened and when police arrived they found a man being held on the ground.

He was recognised for his bravery at the Pakistan High Commission in London.

Mr Burns told the court the girl had undergone hospital treatment and she required plastic surgery.

Pintaru was remanded in custody and will next appear at the Old Bailey on September 10.

Metropolitan Police say the attack does not appear to be terror related.

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