The mother of a Romanian man suspected of stabbing an 11-year-old girl in London’s Leicester Square said last night: “I feel very sorry for what happened to that little girl.”
The Mail tracked down Ioan Pintaru’s mother, Magda Girla, in his birthplace of Pucioasa, about 105 kilometres northwest of the capital Bucharest.
She said she last spoke to her 32-year-old son, whose middle name is Alexandru, on the morning of the attack on Monday.
The next thing Ms Girla knew, her son had been arrested for stabbing the girl, an Australian tourist travelling in the UK, with a steak knife near the Lego store in one of the capital’s busiest tourist areas.
When asked what she thought of the incident, Ms Girla, a mother of two, pleaded with the Mail: ‘Please forward this message to everyone. I am so sorry for what happened to that little girl.
Magda Girla (right), the mother of Ioan Pintaru (left), has apologized for what happened to the girl
Ioan Pintaru, 32, allegedly put the 11-year-old girl in a chokehold before attacking her
“I suffer with her mother and I can’t describe the pain I feel. I am also a mother and I understand what she must be going through.”
Ms Girla revealed that Pintaru had been working as a long-distance truck driver for the past 10 years and had “no social life”.
About six years ago he moved to England and had a long-term relationship with the mother of his four-year-old daughter.
In May 2022, Ms. Girla said, he returned to Romania.
In May he returned to the UK to work, but a few weeks later he was injured in a road accident, which left him looking for a new employer.
Ms Girla, who cares full-time for her bedridden elderly father, says she has heard only sporadically from her son since his return to the UK and has no idea where he lives.
Pintaru was described as homeless when he appeared before District Judge Michael Snow at Westminster Magistrates Court this week. He is charged with attempted murder and possession of a knife in a public place.
Police officers stand outside the cordoned off area at Leicester Square in London
The court heard Pintaru allegedly jumped on the child and grabbed her in a headlock before stabbing her eight times in the face, neck, shoulder and wrist. She will need plastic surgery for her injuries, District Judge Snow was told.
The incident could have ended fatally, but a store security guard reacted quickly and jumped on top of the attacker, disarming him and holding him until police arrived a few minutes later.
Police initially thought the girl’s mother had also been stabbed, but later found she was covered in her daughter’s blood as she desperately tried to help her.
Pintaru has been remanded in custody and is due to appear at the Old Bailey on September 10.
The girl and her mother were Australian tourists on holiday in the capital.