A 44-year-old man has been charged with attempted murder after a Hasidic rabbi father-of-six was stabbed in broad daylight in the head on a London street.
Stanley Francis, 44, of Coronation Avenue, Stoke Newington, was charged today with attempted murder and possessing an offensive weapon in a public place.
He will appear in custody at Thames Magistrates’ Court on Monday, June 15.
Yaakov Schlesinger, a senior rabbi and teacher from the Satmar sect, was stabbed multiple times as he queued outside a bank in a suspected hate crime, before two heroic builders tackled his assailant to the ground.
Horrified witnesses screamed, ‘he’s got a knife… stabbing!’ before they grabbed the suspect and pinned him down after the attack in Stoke Newington, north London.
Rabbi Schlesinger, pictured in a photograph obtained by MailOnline, was taken to hospital with multiple stab wounds, including to the head and neck, but doctors have confirmed that his condition is not life-threatening.
Yaakov Schlesinger, a senior rabbi and teacher from the Satmar sect in his 50s, has been identified by MailOnline as the man stabbed multiple times after he was approached by a frenzied knifeman on a street in north London
The religious leader underwent surgery for his injuries yesterday. The knifeman is believed to have a record of violence against the police and mental health problems.
Scotland Yard said yesterday that the stabbing is not being treated as a terror attack and detectives are ‘maintaining an open mind’ over a motive for the assault.
But witnesses have insisted that Rabbi Schlesinger, who is in his fifties and has one grandchild, was targeted for his religion.
Detective Sergeant James Tipple, from Hackney CID, who is investigating, said: ‘The victim was stabbed in broad daylight as he went about his business. He suffered multiple stab wounds in what was a horrific incident and will undoubtedly stay with him for a long time to come.
‘We’re conducting extensive enquiries into this attack and have been gathering evidence. However, I know many people saw this attack and, if anyone has any footage or information about this incident, please come forward and tell us what you know.’
Witnesses said the victim, who is in his 50s, was chased down Stoke Newington High Street, Hackney, by a man in his 40s carrying a large knife just before 11am
The victim, who was wearing Hasidic clothing, was knifed multiple times including in the head, police said, before he was tackled by local heroes
Construction site manager Lazar Friedlander and his brother Matt described how they ran towards the attacker and restrained him after hearing a ‘serious scream’.
Lazar said: ‘We ran outside, I saw a Jewish man covered in blood. I’m Jewish myself, and I can see another Jewish man shouting “hold him, catch him, he’s got a knife! Stabbing!”
Lazar said: ‘I’m Jewish myself, and I can see another Jewish man shouting “hold him, catch him, he’s got a knife! Stabbing!
‘There were a couple of other people trying to grab him. Me and my brother managed to force him down and put his hands behind his back until the police came. I wouldn’t call myself a hero. You act in the heat of the moment.’
Though officers said the incident was not being treated as terror-related, onlookers said they believed the rabbi may have been targeted because of his religion.
‘Why did he stab the Jewish man? I reckon it was a hate crime,’ Mr Friedlander said.
He added that he tried to speak to the assailant after pinning him down but ‘he just blanked me and wouldn’t say anything’. Other witnesses reported that the entire attack was carried out in silence.
The rabbi, from Stamford Hill, was standing outside a bank when he was set upon in the unprecedented attack, one of his friends told MailOnline, though no robbery took place.
Though police said they were not treating the incident as terror-related, witnesses allege that the Jewish victim was the target of a hate crime
Witnesses said the victim, who is in his 50s, was chased down Stoke Newington High Street, Hackney, by a man in his 40s carrying a large knife just before 11am
Peter Lolkiewicz, a property manager, said he believed the knife used in the attack was about seven inches long. ‘I saw a man with a knife holding up the blade walking confidently towards the NatWest bank,’ he said.
Local business owner Atique Choudhury said that a witness had rushed into his restaurant moments after the stabbing. ‘A person with a long knife ran up the road and stabbed him a few times,’ he said. ‘He was armed with a knife and hit him across the head and shoulder.’
Mr Choudhury claimed he heard yelling and screaming and rushed out to the street, adding: ‘I saw a gentleman on a chair in a cafe being comforted.’
Witness Efrayim Goldstein tweeted: ‘Great Job to the brave men who held him down, helping police is always nice to see. Let’s hope the police use the full force of the law to have this criminal behind bars. Off our streets.’
Workmen and a driver for takeaway service Deliveroo pinned the assailant, said to be of Asian descent, to the ground before police attended the scene
Aasmah Mir, breakfast presenter on Times Radio, tweeted: ‘Caught up in aftermath of a stabbing on Stoke Newington High Street in London this morning.
‘Men running, screaming ‘Call The Police!’ Heard a woman driver behind me telling a bus driver that the alleged attacker had got off his bus.
‘Builders jumped on him. Absolutely terrifying.’
She added: ‘Those builders and the delivery driver who jumped on the alleged attacker are just the best. I feel quite emotional about it because people don’t care about their own safety, they just work together to keep everyone else safe.’
Dozens of emergency service vehicles, as well as Hatzola, the Jewish ambulance service, rushed to the scene where a police cordon remains in place.
A spokesman for London Ambulance Service said: ‘We assessed a man at the scene and took him to a major trauma centre.’
Hackney Police tweeted that a man in his 50s was take to hospital with injuries while another man, in his 40s, was arrested on suspicion of attempted murder today
Dozens of emergency service vehicles, as well as Hatzola, the Jewish ambulance service, scrambled to the scene and a police cordon remains
Hackney Council told locals: ‘Stoke Newington High Street is closed between Evering Road and Stoke Newington Church Street following a police incident.’
The Community Security Trust said they were ‘aware of reports a Jewish man has been stabbed in Stoke Newington, North London’.
Scotland Yard said in a statement: At 10:54hrs on Friday, 12 June police were called to reports of a male being restrained in Stoke Newington High Street, N16.
‘Officers and London Ambulance Service attended.
‘A man, aged in his 50s, was found suffering stab wounds. Another man, aged in his 40s, had been restrained on the floor by members of the public.
‘A man, aged in his 40s, has been arrested on suspicion of attempted murder. He has been taken to hospital after suffering what is believed to be minor head injuries.’