U.K. police arrest man after video shows beheading attempt
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A man has been arrested for attempted murder following a “serious assault” in Belfast, sparking widespread condemnation and protest calls from U.K. far-right figures attacking the U.K.’s immigration policies.
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The suspect — a man in his 30s, believed to be from Sudan — was detained following a “brutal” knife attack in the city late Monday, the Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) said in a news release.
The victim, a man believed to be in his 40s, was hospitalized in serious condition after suffering injuries to his face, neck and back, cops said.
Video shared widely on social media shows a man stabbing another man several times in the head with a knife in what appears to be an attempted beheading.
Disturbing video shared on X by Turning Point U.K. shows the victim trying to kick free from a man straddling him before the attacker repeatedly stabs him in the neck and head.
“Get off him you f***ing rat!” a woman can be heard shouting as the attacker holds up his weapon.
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Another man yells, “He’s trying to cut his head off! He’s slicing his head off!”
Witnesses then rush the scene, with one taking down the attacker with a stick as the others try to get him off the victim.
‘Critical incident’
“This is a deeply concerning assault and I have declared this a critical incident,” Assistant Chief Constable Ryan Henderson said in a statementnoting they are investigating to determine a motive behind the “brutal attack.”
He added: “Our officers were on the scene within minutes and we wish to acknowledge the members of the public who strived to save the man from further attack,” he continued. “Their willingness to step forward to help another person shows incredible bravery and community spirit.”
Henderson went on to reassure the community that they are “treating this attack with the utmost seriousness,” and residents’ safety is the priority.
‘Horrific’ and ‘sickening’
The attack in Belfast comes after violent demonstrations in Southampton, England, over law enforcement’s handling of the December murder of teen Henry Nowak, a white student who was stabbed to death by a Sikh man.
Recently released body-cam footage showed cops handcuffing and arresting Nowak after telling officers he was stabbed, with British Prime Minister Keir Starmer weighing insaying, “There are serious questions for the police to answer.”
Starmer has called the attack in Belfast “horrific” and “sickening.”
He wrote on X: “I have absolutely no tolerance for abhorrent scenes of violence like this on our streets. My thoughts are first and foremost with the victim, and I thank the first responders, including members of the public who intervened.”
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Also in an X postNorthern Ireland’s First Minister Michelle O’Neill described the incident as “harrowing” while urging people “to give the PSNI the space it needs to carry out a full investigation so that justice can be done.”
But leading figures in the U.K.’s far right, including anti-immigration activist Stephen Yaxley-Lennon, also known as Tommy Robinson, demanded immediate protests on X.
“Stop importing the f***ers then, send them back!!!” Robinson ranted on Xtagging the PM. “Enough of your performative politics you wanker!!!”
Democratic Unionist Party Leader Gavin Robinson branded the stabbing as “chilling” and “medieval” and said during an Urgent Question in the House of Commons that the incident “will have profound implications for community cohesion in this country.”
He called for calm, while reiterating that “community cohesion lies on the precipice,” before pleading with the government to recognize that “uncontrolled immigration needs to end.”
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