Four women attacked at Sainsbury’s by knifeman out on bail

A KNIFEMAN who attacked four women outside a supermarket yesterday had been released on bail just hours earlier.

The stabbing spree at a car park near Sainsbury’s in Hampton, London, left one 62-year-old woman fighting for her life last night. Three other victims suffered severe wounds in the unprovoked attacks.

The suspect – named by sources as Ethem Aydin Orhan – was being held by police after being charged with attacking a policeman, and was released on bail less than 2 hours before going on the rampage.

He is alleged to have had a knife on him when he was arrested in Kensington, London, after the incident involving the officer.

In yesterday morning’s attack, the elderly knifeman targeted his first victim outside the supermarket before moving on to another area of the car park.

There, the three others – including a mother and daughter – were knifed as they got out of their car to do their shopping. The man

‘He appeared to be out of it’

was arrested at the scene. Terrified shoppers described their shock at the attacks, which took place in an upmarket area described as ‘normally very quiet’. One witness said the scene was ‘horrific’ as she saw the victims lying on the floor bleeding.

She told ITV London: ‘There was an elderly lady just lying down beside the police station. I tried to help, she had the police there and paramedics. I could see this poor lady with blood coming out of all different parts of her body.’

The first victim remained in a critical condition last night. The conditions of the other three, aged 71, 67 and 53, are not thought to be life-threatening.

A member of staff at a nearby pub said the knifeman ‘appeared to be out of it’ or high on drugs and was only targeting women.

‘It didn’t seem like they knew him – it was completely unprovoked,’ the woman, who did not want to be named, said. ‘He appeared to be out of it, on drugs or crazy.’

Richmond-upon-Thames borough commander Chief Superintendent Glenn Tunstall said: ‘I would like to praise members of the public who rushed to the aid of the injured women and provided them with first aid.’

A man was arrested on suspicion of attempted murder and last night remained in custody, the Metropolitan Police said.