Machete attacker cleared of trying to kill Pc

Rapist who went to prison for knife crime did not attempt to murder officer despite hacking his head

A RAPIST who was once jailed for nine years for a savage machete attack has been cleared of attempting to murder a police officer despite repeatedly hacking at him with a 2ft blade.

Muhammad Rodwan, 56, left Pc Stuart Outten with horrific injuries when he launched his potentially deadly assault in August last year, only stopping when he was Tasered twice.

Yesterday, a jury at the Old Bailey found Rodwan guilty of wounding with intent, but cleared him of the more serious charge of attempted murder and also of possession of an offensive weapon.

Reacting to the verdict with dismay and incredulity, Ken Marsh, chairman of the Metropolitan Police Federation, said officers were facing attacks like this on a daily basis.

He said: “Had my colleague Pc Stuart Outten not utilised the Taser when he did, he would have received further blows and would not have been able to defend himself. It would have been fatal.

“My colleagues are facing these kinds of incidents on a daily basis from members of the public. This was a ferocious attack on a colleague and I am saddened by the verdict that has come back on this.”

Pc Outten was attacked in Leyton, east London, after pulling over Rodwan’s white van on suspicion that it was uninsured.

Within seconds, Rodwan produced a 2ft-long, sharpened machete, which he claimed he kept to chop down brambles, and began hacking at the officer’s head and body.

Mr Outten managed to Taser Rodwan twice, but suffered deep gashes to his head, broken fingers and a machete wound to the arm.

Rodwan, who claimed he was acting in self defence, told police he feared he was about to be shot, adding: “My life is worth more than his life.”

As well as having a conviction for rape, Rodwan was also jailed in the Nineties for attacking two men with a machete in the bedroom of his east London flat. But the trial judge, Mrs Justice Carr, turned down an application by the prosecution and a request by the jury to reveal details about his previous convictions.

Rodwan, who showed no emotion when the verdicts were read out, will be sentenced today and could be jailed for life, despite being cleared of attempted murder.

In a victim impact statement read to court, Mr Outten said: “This incident has changed my life but I hope it has not changed the way I police.”

The officer said he believed his training and the fact he had managed to deploy his Taser had saved his life. He said: “Once he’s started hitting me in the head with the machete, then I realised it was escalating very quickly and I was having to now fight for my life.

“But luckily, the Taser worked. It did its job. He fell incapacitated next to me and I was able to use it to keep him on the floor and to keep myself alive.”

Mr Outten shrugged off claims of heroism, but said he was desperate to get back to work.

“I’ve been off work for five months now. I can’t wait to get back out on patrol, it’s what I love doing. My office is out on the street.”