Hero who disarmed Leicester Square knifeman as he repeatedly stabbed girl, 11, now sees her as 'like my younger sister'

A man who disarmed a knifeman after he repeatedly stabbed an 11-year-old girl in Leicester Square has revealed what compelled him to save the youngster's life more than a year on from the attack. 

Abdullah Tanoli, 30, was working as a security guard at a shop on the busy central London plaza when, at around 11.30am, he heard screams coming from outside.

He rushed onto the street and, to his horror, witnessed a girl being held in a headlock by a lone attacker wielding a knife - later identified as Ioan Pintaru, 33. 

The Romanian national had pounced on the Australian girl, who cannot be named for legal reasons, as she left the Lego store with her mother before stabbing her eight times in face, neck and chest with a large kitchen knife. 

Dismissing any regard for his own safety, Abdullah raced towards the girl and 'jumped on the attacker. He knew the man had a knife, but had no idea the extent of the girl's injuries nor did he have any specialist training for this type of attack.

'I never thought I would see something like that. At that moment, the only thing in my mind was to save the child,' he selflessly admits. 

Abdullah eventually managed to grab Pintaru's hand holding the knife and twisted it, causing the weapon to drop before kicking it away.

The guard and two other men pinned the attacker down before police arrived five minutes later and arrested him. A nurse walking past help stem the victim's bleeding.

Hero security guard Abdullah Tanoli, 30, who saved a girl after she was stabbed repeatedly by a lone knifeman in Leicester Square last year 

Romanian Ioan Pintaru, 33, has been detained indefinitely in a mental hospital for stabbing an 11-year-old Australian girl in the face eight times

Police were seen detaining Pintaru in Leicester Square after the 11-year-old girl was stabbed

Abdullah told the BBC that the moment he heard the girl being attacked, he knew it was 'not normal screaming'.

'You know when a child is just crying, but when someone is being hurt, that scream is different,' he said.

'Most people stayed back, and that is understandable - safety first - but if you know you can save someone, you should.'

The girl, an Australian tourist, told police she thought she was going to die after she was targeted by Pintaru on the morning of August 12 last year while on holiday with her mother.

He placed her in a headlock and 'furiously and repeatedly' stabbed her eight times in the face, neck and chest, with his arm moving 'like a jackhammer' using 'as much force as he could'.

Her mother later told police she believed 'he was trying to kill' the youngster with a 'crazed and vacant expression'. 

Pintaru was sentenced at the Old Bailey on Tuesday to a hospital order under Section 37 of the Mental Health Act and a restriction order under Section 41 - meaning he can be detained indefinitely. 

During a police interview, the girl described how she felt something crash into her from behind and hit her on the head, the Old Bailey heard during Pintaru's trial. 

Police officers at the scene in Leicester Square, London, after the attack in August last year 

Prosecutor Heidi Stonecliffe KC said: 'She felt the defendant's arm wrap itself around her,' Ms Stonecliffe explained.

'His weight was on her. She said in the interview that at that moment she thought she was going to die.

'She felt the defendant stab her in the face and felt the blood from the wound running down her face. She was understandably terrified.'

During sentencing, Judge Richard Marks KC commended Mr Tanoli for his bravery and ordered a reward of £1,000 be given from public funds.

One injury was centimetres away from the eye, two scars to the cheek, there were two wounds to the neck and two to the shoulder and chest near to an artery and the windpipe.

Abdullah told the BBC a week after the attack the victim's mother contacted him on social media and they have remained in contact.

Mr Tanoli said he considers the girl 'like my younger sister' and is 'relieved' that she has recovered physically from her wounds. 

Although, the court heard the child, now 13, has 'invisible scars' and often relives that moment over and over.

Pintaru had previously been admitted to psychiatric hospital in Romania and had stopped taking his medication

Pintaru was in the dock with what appeared to be three health workers. Psychiatrists said he suffered from psychosis during the attack

'The psychological effects of this incident will remain with (her) for the rest of her life,' prosecutor Heidi Stonecliffe KC told the Old Bailey.

Detective Constable Laura Nicoll, of the Met's specialist crime team, who led the investigation, said: 'It was a savage and brutal attack that left the city in shock.

'But following the most appalling scene, we also saw the best of London: a security guard who raced from his post without a thought of his own safety, the off-duty nurse who tended to the little girl's wounds.

'Without them, she might not be alive today.

'The guard was commended by the court, and we would like to add to that our sincere admiration for his selfless act.'