Nursery worker stabbed by women shouting ‘Allah’

A NURSERY worker was slashed by three women who attacked her in the street while shouting “Allah”, her colleague has said.

The white woman, in her 30s, was said to have been left in “shock” after she was set upon by a trio “dressed all in black” as she walked to work.

“She had three Asian girls behind her chanting the Koran, ‘Allah’,” said Karrien Stevens, the operations manager of Little Diamonds nursery in Wanstead, east London. “They pulled her to the ground, punched her, kicked her. One of them pulled out a knife and cut her arm from her wrist to her elbow.”

Police were called but a Met spokesman said that “it is not being treated as terrorism at this stage”.

Ms Stevens said her colleague had just left Wanstead station when she was set upon by the three women less than 10 minutes’ walk from the nursery at around 9.30am. She said the victim did not know her attackers, who fled the scene when a passer-by intervened. The victim, who was not wearing a uniform, was left “shocked” by the ordeal, which lasted 10 minutes, and Ms Stevens insisted the attack was not related to the nursery.

“She is shaken up, she’s emotionally a bit of a wreck, they did scare her, but she is OK, she is a strong staff member,” Ms Stevens said.

She added: “She was in tears and she had a cut right up her arm. Her stomach was hurting, she had marks all over her, her hair was pulled out.”

A Met spokesman said she was taken to an east London hospital as a precaution with a slash wound. “The suspects fled the scene prior to police arrival in an unknown direction. No arrests have been made,” he added.

Paul Ashmore, 31, a mixing and mastering engineer, said his fiancée and child were held on lockdown at nearby Wanstead Church School. He said his fiancée called him to say the school was not allowing anyone to leave “because there was a stabbing outside”.