‘I looked into slasher’s eyes – there was nothing there. He was just like an animal’
How hero police officer described jihadist maniac who ranted ‘Long live the caliphate’ during New Year’s Eve knife rampage
A RADICALISED graduate yesterday admitted carrying out a frenzied knife attack on New Year’s Eve.
Mahdi Mohamud shouted ‘Allahu Akbar’ and ‘Long live the caliphate’ as he stabbed a middle-aged couple he had singled out at random.
Alerted by the screams, a British Transport Police officer fired his Taser at the 26-year-old but it had no effect because of his thickly-padded jacket.
Mohamud turned on Sergeant Lee Valentine and plunged the 10in blade into his shoulder. He said he looked into Mohamud’s eyes but there was ‘nothing there – it was just like an animal’.
Colleagues arrived to disarm and arrest Mohamud, who lay ranting on the platform.
He admitted three counts of attempted murder and one of having terror materials.
A judge was told Mohamud suffered from a mental illness linked to smoking cannabis but this did not in itself explain his rampage.
Last year’s attack at Victoria Station in Manchester brought back traumatic memories of the suicide bombing at the adjoining Arena 18 months earlier.
The victims – Anna Charlton, 57, and James Knox, 52 – had spent the afternoon at a pub and were rushing to catch a tram home at around 8.50pm.
Dutch-born Mohamud, who had spent months in a mental hospital in Somalia before returning to his family home in Manchester weeks earlier, had walked to the station from the Cheetham Hill area. A chilling document he had written illustrated how carefully he had planned his attack, Alison Morgan QC told the city’s crown court. It began with the instructions: ‘Simple, unpredictable, steadfast, don’t waste time.’
Miss Charlton felt a blow from behind when she was hurrying down the tram platform.
Miss Morgan said: ‘She described the attacker as having an overwhelmingly powerful energy and realised at this point they were not being mugged and this was a targeted attack.’
Mr Knox tried to kick Mohamud out of the way as police and security guards sprinted to the scene in response to her screams.
The knifeman dodged out of their way and started jabbing his blade at Miss Charlton’s face.
As he was brought to the floor, he shouted: ‘This is for Allah’ and ‘That’s what happens when you start bombing Muslim countries.’
Recalling the terrifying confrontation, Sgt Valentine said he looked into Mohamud’s eyes and it was like ‘there’s nothing there’. His expression was ‘ not even that of like a madman – it was just like an animal’.
Still ranting, Mohamud was led to a police van, where he was searched, revealing a second knife concealed under his jacket. Sgt
‘Jabbing his blade at her face’
Valentine suffered a stab wound in the shoulder but was saved from more serious injury by his five layers of clothing and protective gear.
Miss Charlton, who suffered a collapsed lung, and Mr Knox, who had 13 injuries including a fractured skull, were treated at the scene by an off-duty doctor before being taken to hospital.
Born in the Netherlands to Somali parents, Mohamud moved to Manchester at the age of nine and excelled at school.
He graduated in mechanical engineering from Leeds University, carrying out a prestigious placement at the Rolls-Royce aerospace factory.
But it was during his time with the firm at the end of 2015 that Mohamud first began showing signs of mental illness which a doctor who treated him said may have been triggered by cannabis.
He was sectioned but later discharged and travelled back and forth to Somalia.
While there he spent several months in hospital, attacking at least three people including a nurse with a knife and an axe.
The incidents were blamed on his paranoid delusions. On his return to Britain, Mohamud set up a
Twitter account in a bid to spread his conspiracy theories about the Western powers. He also compiled a lengthy document on his mobile phone spelling out his belief that the British government was carrying out ‘psychological operations’ against Muslims.
Mohamud accessed Islamic State propaganda and watched online sermons of infamous hate preacher Anwar Al-Awlaki, who was killed in a 2011 drone strike.
The document for which Mohamud was prosecuted was one he had downloaded from the dark web entitled: ‘The seven most lethal places to strike with a knife.’ An aide memoire had the message ‘Strong words and then fight’ and contained a reminder to deliver a ‘slogan’ on arrival – a possible reference to his jihadi-inspired rants.
He was treated for schizophrenia at a mental health unit before being judged fit to plead.
Miss Morgan submitted that it had been ‘intended to be a lethal attack’ driven by his ‘extremist ideology and his desire to perform violent jihad’.
Rebecca Trowler QC, defending, insisted the rampage was a consequence of his deep-seated mental illness. Mohamud is expected to be sentenced today.