Man arrested after Orthodox Jew reportedly stabbed in north London

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A man has been arrested for attempted murder after a stabbing in north London.

According to witnesses the victim was an Orthodox Jew, though police said they are not treating the attack as being terror-related.

Hackney Police said: “Police were called to reports of a male being restrained in Stoke Newington High Street, N16.

“Officers and London Ambulance Service attended. A man, aged in his fifties, was found suffering stab wounds.

“A man aged in his forties, has been arrested on suspicion of attempted murder. He has been taken to hospital after suffering what is believed to be minor head injuries.

“The victim, aged in his fifties, has also been taken to hospital. We await further updates on his condition.”

The statement added: “We are not treating this as terror-related.”

London Ambulance service said: “We responded to an incident on Stoke Newington High Street this morning, alongside colleagues from @MPSHackney and @LDNairamb.

“We assessed a man at the scene and took him to a major trauma centre.”

The Jewish Chronicle said the victim was an Orthodox Jew and had suffered “multiple” stab wounds.

Photos on social media show construction workers and a Deliveroo driver holding down the alleged attacker before he ran away.

Aasmah Mir, a breakfast presenter on the forthcoming Times Radio station, tweeted: “Caught up in aftermath of a stabbing on Stoke Newington High Street in London this morning.

“Men running, screaming ‘Call The Police!’

“Heard a woman driver behind me telling a bus driver that the alleged attacker had got off his bus.

“Builders jumped on him. Absolutely terrifying.”

She added: “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.”

Construction site manager Lazar Friedlander and his brother Matt ran towards the alleged attacker and restrained him after hearing a “serious scream”.

He told the PA news agency: “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! Stabbing!’

“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.”

“I wouldn’t call myself a hero. You act in the heat of the moment,” added Mr Friedlander, who lives locally.

Mr Friedlander, suggested the man may have been targeted because of his religion, despite the police saying the incident was not being treated as terror-related.

“Why [did] he stab the Jewish man? I reckon it was a hate crime,” Mr Friedlander said.

He said he tried to speak to the assailant after pinning him down but “he just blanked me and wouldn’t say anything”.