For hope in the Leytonstone stabbing case, look to the commuters who confronted the attacker

Muhaydin Mire, a 30 year-old Islamist fanatic who used to drive for Uber, was yesterday found guilty of attempted murder at Leytonstone station in east London last year. Shouting “this is for my Syrian brothers”, the deranged religious zealot took a knife to the neck of musician Lyle Zimmerman on 5 December, after which another commuter shouted: “You ain’t no Muslim, bruv." The phrase went viral on social media.

Watching the video of the incident and its aftermath, which we have chosen to publish on independent.co.uk, it is impossible not to be struck by the bravery of other commuters. Several of them confront Mire, including by approaching him, and the fact that more than one of them tries to stop him shows how bravery can, in such dangerous circumstances, be infectious. Those heroic commuters deserve recognition and public credit. Unfortunately, our honours system is a corrupt farce, so the approval of their communities and London as a whole will have to suffice.

Mire’s frenzied attack shows another side to the age of terror in which we live. Plenty of terrorism, such as that of September 11 or the recent spate of attacks in Paris, will be high-profile and high-impact. Plenty of other terrorism will be committed by theologically minded loners with limited resources to cause damage, acting not in networks of terror but as solitary agents of doom. Mire is just one such. It is natural to read plenty into his filthy criminality – including, no doubt, that you can’t trust Uber drivers, a dangerous myth that other cab drivers ought not to perpetuate.

The truth is that most terrorists are petty criminals who deserve our scorn and the firm application of the law. Overreacting to their perverted ways grants them a victory that any civilised society should be unwilling to give. In contrast, the courage and public spirit of the commuters in Leytonstone who had the misfortune to come across this Islamist spiv showed exactly how to respond to the moral depredations of terrorists. We salute them, and thank them for their example.