Man charged with attempted murder after rabbi stabbed in London

A man has been charged with attempted murder after an Orthodox rabbi was stabbed many times in northeast London.

Stanley Francis, 44, is accused of stabing rabbi Alter Yaacov Schlesinger in Stoke Newington on Friday. The victim, who is aged in his 50s, was taken to a major trauma centre following the attack near a bank in broad daylight. Police said his injuries were not life-threatening.

Francis, of Stoke Newington, also faces a charge of possessing an offensive weapon. He is due to appear in custody at Thames Magistrates’ Court on Monday.

Members of the public managed to restrain the rabbi’s attacker after the stabbing until police arrived.

Construction site manager Lazar Friedlander and his brother Matt were among those who helped after hearing a “serious scream”.

Mr Friedlander said: “We ran outside, I saw a Jewish man covered in blood. I’m Jewish myself, and I can see another Jewish man shouting ‘hold him, catch him, he’s got a knife!

“There were a couple of other people trying to grab him. Me and my brother managed to force him down and put his hands behind his back until the police came,” he added.

Aasmah Mir, a breakfast presenter on the forthcoming Times Radio station, was in the area in the aftermath of the attack.

She wrote on Twitter: “Those builders and the delivery driver who jumped on the alleged attacker are just the best. I feel quite emotional about it because people don’t care about their own safety, they just work together to keep everyone else safe.”

Hackney Police have said they are not treating the stabbing as “terror-related”.