Sword rampage survivor claims 'killer' slashed him across throat

Daily Mirror

5 hours ago

Marcus Arduini Monzo is accused of murdering 14-year-old Daniel Anjorin and attempting to kill four others during a 20-minute sword rampage in Hainault, London last April
A court has heard how an alleged killer slashed a passerby in the neck with a sword before smiling during a 'brutal string of attacks'.
The trial at the Old Bailey today heard how Marcus Arduini Monzo, 37, is accused of murdering 14-year-old schoolboy Daniel Anjorin and attempting to kill four others during a 20-minute sword rampage in Hainault, north-east London, on April 30 last year. He denies the charges.
A grey Ford Transit can be seen mounting a pavement and hitting Donato Iwule, a Co-op security guard on his way to work, in CCTV footage shown to the jury on Monday.
The video captured Mr Iwule screaming as the van struck him before it went on to collide with a house. A man is then seen exiting the vehicle and walking after Mr Iwule while brandishing a sword.
'I thought I was dying,' Mr Iwule said in evidence. He described how he desperately tried to escape into a nearby garden but was struck on his knee, face and shoulder and knocked to the ground.
He told the court how he saw the driver get out of the van, pull a sword from a cover 'right in front of my face,' before throwing the cover to one side.
'I said 'I don't know you'… I said it multiple times,' Mr Iwule told prosecutor Tom Little KC. 'He said 'I don't care – I'm going to kill you'.'
Mr Iwule explained to the jury how he had tried to raise his arms to defend himself but Monzo swung the sword, slicing his neck.
'I saw blood coming out of my neck,' he said. 'I pressed my thumb to not bleed out… I shouted 'God is greatest' in Arabic – because I'm Muslim. When that happened, he was smiling like it was something that he was happy about.'
Mr Iwule said he was able to jump over a fence to escape when Monzo became distracted. He described how he later shouted at a schoolboy, believed to be Daniel, to go back inside.
During cross-examination Mr Iwule described how he had been standing upright when he was slashed with the sword and said he could clearly hear Monzo telling him he was going to kill him.
Last week jurors heard Monzo allegedly killed and skinned his own cat at home before carrying out the alleged attacks.
The court heard that a search of Spanish-Brazilian national Monzo's Newham home yielded evidence of the mutilated deboned animal as well as the presence of cannabis. The court heard how Monzo was under the influence of cannabis that may have led to drug-induced psychosis. However, the prosecution says this does not amount to diminished responsibility.
Another witness, Mitchell Hayes, was also on his way to work at the Co-op when he told the jury he saw the van 'going faster, slowing down, going faster' before the crash.
He described hearing screaming later and said he saw the driver walk around the van and then get back in and reverse away, appearing to hold what looked like a sword. Mr Hayes said he stayed with Mr Iwule, who was bleeding from the neck, for 10 to 15 minutes. He then became aware of another incident nearby, he explained, he saw another colleague, Nathan Hutchinson, shouting that the attacker had a sword and they saw a body on the other side of the road.
'He was running around with it like a maniac,' Mr Hayes said of the man he believed to be Monzo.
Monzo is charged with 10 offences in total, including the murder of Daniel Anjorin, four counts for the alleged attempted murders of Donato Iwule, Sindy Arias, Henry De Los Rios Polania and PC Yasmin Margaret Mechem-Whitfield, a count of wounding with intent, and two counts of possessing an offensive weapon.
Monzo has admitted possessing two swords but denies murder, attempted murder, wounding with intent, aggravated burglary and possession of a bladed article.
The trial continues.