Terror attack policeman tells of showdown ‘like a western’
Pc Wayne Marques fought London Bridge attackers despite being blinded in one eye and stabbed
A POLICE officer who fought off the three knife-wielding London Bridge attackers armed only with his baton has described facing up to the gang as “like a scene from a western”.
Pc Wayne Marques was repeatedly stabbed and believed he was going to die from his wounds after the struggle to stop Youssef Zaghba, Khuram Butt and Rachid Redouane.
The 38-year-old tried to fend off the attackers after they had blinded him in one eye and said he is still recovering from his injuries after the jihadists rampaged through the Borough area of Southwark.
Speaking for the first time since the June 3 attack that killed eight, the British Transport Police Officer said he had only just begun his shift when he heard screams as he patrolled with a colleague near London Bridge Station. He saw a disturbance outside a bar and thought he was witnessing a pub fight before realising what was happening.
He said: “I remember grabbing my baton with my right hand and I racked [extended] it. I took a deep breath and I just charged the first one [attacker].”
He added: “As I got near him I swung at him with everything I had as hard as I could, straight through his head, trying to go for a knockout blow.”
His blow made the attacker “yelp in pain”, but he then found himself surrounded and fighting desperately for about 90 seconds.
He was stabbed just above his right eye and suffered severe wounds to his head, left leg and left hand. The officer, who has worked with BTP for just under two years and was a PCSO with the Met for about six years beforehand, said a blow to his head plunged him into “instant darkness”.
He said: “The second [attacker] and the third one I was fighting left to right, because I only had one eye, so I’m moving left to right, left to right.” At that point he recalled being stabbed in the leg by the first attacker. He said: “I’m thinking, ‘there’s a knife in my leg.”’ After being stabbed in the hand, he said he could remember little except “swinging [my baton] all over the place”.
Seconds later, he recalls the attackers facing him like a scene from a film. He said: “The three of them were standing together almost shoulder to shoulder, in like a little wolf pack, and they’re staring at me.” He added: “And I’m basically just like [in] a cowboy western movie waiting for the draw, waiting for them to make their move.” But the attackers instead left him to rush off towards Borough Market where they were shot dead by police minutes later.
As his colleague sent a radio message through saying “officer down”, Pc Marques told him: “Go get ’em, you’ve got to go get ’em.” The officer then lay on the ground and began to feel a “black cloud” descend as he started to lose consciousness.
He gave a colleague his last messages for his parents, partner and family as he prepared to die. His next memory was waking up in hospital, feeling relieved, shocked and surprised.
After a number of operations, Pc Marques was discharged from hospital on Friday. He has regained sight in his eye but cannot walk unaided, struggles to grip with his left hand, and has lost feeling in the right side of his head where nerves were severed.
He said: “Hopefully with the right help and the right care, I’ll get my legs back – that will be a great feeling.”
His family and partner are reluctant for him to return to the streets as a police officer. He said: “Am I a hero? I guess in a lot of people’s eyes I am. All I was trying to do was keep people alive. That’s my job, keep people alive.”
‘The three of them were standing shoulder to shoulder, like a wolf pack, and I’m waiting for the draw, waiting for them to make their move’