Golders Green stabbing suspect had previously been referred to Prevent

Susanna Siddell
Thu, 30 Apr 2026 10:58:08 +0000

The Golders Green stabbing suspect had been referred to the Government's counter-extremism programme Prevent.

The Metropolitan Police Commissioner Sir Mark Rowley confirmed the Somalian-born suspect had a "history of serious violence and mental health issues".

The 45-year-old suspect was known to the Prevent counter-extremism programme and was subject to a referral in 2020, the Metropolitan Police confirmed.

The case was closed within the year, the force added.

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Prevent is the Government-funded agency designed to stop people from becoming terrorists or supporting terrorism.

Two Jewish people were stabbed in broad daylight in the north London area yesterday in what is being treated as a terror attack.

The suspect arrived in the UK back in the early 1990s.

At 11.16am yesterday, Scotland Yard responded to reports two men were stabbed eight miles in the north west suburb.

Officers are currently carrying out a search of an address in south east London.

This morning, the Prime Minister said the criminal justice system must respond to the suspected terror attack in a "swift, agile and visible way" during a meeting with policing bosses in Downing Street.

Sir Keir Starmer said: "Today is about part of the response which is really important, which is the criminal justice response.

"Because a number of people have been arrested, a number of them go through the criminal justice system, and it’s really important that we are able collectively to demonstrate that the response will be swift and visible."

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The Labour leader added "an attack on our Jewish community is an attack on all of us", adding that this was "not a one-off".

"What we saw last night was people being targeted because they are Jewish, I’m absolutely clear about that," Sir Keir asserted.

Sir Keir and his Cabinet are facing growing calls to tackle the surge of antisemitism across the country, particularly in London.

This morning, in the wake of the knife attack, the Government pledged to spend an extra £25million on protection for Jewish communities across the UK.

Whitehall confirmed legislation will be fast-tracked to target individuals acting on behalf of state-sponsored groups in the coming weeks.

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