Hainault trial latest: Marcus Arduini Monzo accused of attempted murder van attack, victim describes impact

Sky News

2 days ago

Iwule told boy to 'go back in' after collision
Donato Iwule says he stayed in the general area where he was struck after the collision.
Asked if he then saw a boy walking along road, he says he did.
Prosecutor Tom Little KC asks if he shouted directly at him and Iwule says he did, adding that he shouted: "Go back in!"
Iwule says he later saw the boy was on the ground.
Defence cross-examines Iwules
Now, the defence is cross-examining and asks: "What position were you in when you were injured to the neck?"
Iwule says he was standing upright.
He is asked whether the comments "I don't care, I'm going to kill you" are the only words Monzo made to him.
"Yes," Iwule replies.
Questioned on the volume of Monzo's voice, Iwule replies: "He just said it. It wasn't a high volume."
Iwule then goes on to describe how Monzo tried to follow him.
"He came out the front garden. From there, he went back to the van," he adds.
Monzo came at victim with samurai sword, court hears
After the collision, Iwule says he got up and Monzo came towards him with a samurai sword.
He gestures to the court how Monzo waved the weapon and says: "He came towards me."
Iwule says he told the man driving the van "I don't know you" multiple times.
But the driver responded: "I don't care, I'm going to kill you."
In the dock, Monzo tilts his head down as the witness says this.
Iwule goes on to describe how he raised his hands to protect himself and then moved his head and looked back for an escape route but was "cornered", as the sword struck his neck.
"I was in shock straight away, I saw blood coming out of my neck. I pressed my phone to my neck," he says.
'I realised it was coming towards me': Victim says he thought he was dying after van impact
Donato Iwule is on the witness stand and is being asked questions by prosecutor Tom Little KC.
At the start of his evidence, the judge reassures Iwule the court does not doubt that he was hit by a van. "We know the van hit you - everyone's seen it, everyone agrees," the judge says.
Iwule says he had arrived at Hainault underground station at around 6.45am and was intending to go to a local Co-op store on 30 April, where he worked.
Iwule says he noticed the van around "10 seconds" before it hit him.
Asked if he noticed anything about the driver, he says: "I noticed the speed. I realised it was coming towards me."
Iwule says he tried to "go to his left or right" to get out of the way of the van.
Little notes that Iwule is wearing glasses in court and goes on to ask: "Where you wearing them on the day?"
"Yes," Iwule replies, before adding that the glasses came off his face when he was struck.
Iwule says the van struck his "face", "left knee", and "shoulder", before he fell to the ground.
Asked what happened next after he hit the ground, Iwule tells the court he thought he was dying.
Monzo buried his head in his hands as 'freaking sexy' sword video was shown
Mollie Malone, our home news correspondent, is in court today.
Here, she describes the moment the video of Monzo unboxing a sword was shown to the jury earlier.
Marcus Monzo, who is accused of murdering a 14-year-old boy and injuring several others as part of a series of alleged sword attacks, was in the dock in Court 7 at the Old Bailey as jurors were shown a series of clips by the prosecution.
He had his head buried in his hands as a clip was played from the 4 April 2024, which the prosecution says was downloaded from his iPhone, and shows Marcus Monzo unboxing a sword.
"This just came through… Ninja stuff," a man dressed in a yellow jumper stood beside a cat can be heard saying in the video.
The man goes on: "This is handmade in Japan, it took more than a month to reach me.
"Freaking sexy".
The court was later shown a series of CCTV clips from the morning of the 30 April 2024 - the day of the attacks.
There are audible screams on one video clip as a grey transit van is shown colliding with a pedestrian, Donato Iwule.
Monzo watched from the dock as these clips were shown.
Jury now coming back to resume hearing
Jurors have now made their way back to court, with proceedings back under way.
Court taking short break
The judge has said he expects proceedings to resume at 12.10pm.
Clips show Monzo get back into van after collision
The jury are continuing to be shown a series of clips - these show Monzo getting back into the grey van after hitting Donato Iwule, the police witness says.
Another clip shows Iwule clutching his hand and walking along a pavement after the collision.
Footage captures Monzo driving into Iwule, court hears
Now, the jury are being shown a number of clips of Monzo apparently driving the dark grey van into Donato Iwule.
The footage is a mixture of CCTV and doorbell camera clips.
The clips show the collision from several different angles, which is more than what was shown in court last week.
After Monzo allegedly struck him with a van, Iwule can be heard screaming repeatedly.
The court heard last week that Monzo's grey van drove into Iwule at the junction with Laing Close at 6.51am on 30 April 2024.
It struck with "such force" that it sent him and the van into a garden, smashing a fence and a concrete post.
CCTV clips show route van used to drive into Donato Iwule took on day of attacks, court hears
A Metropolitan Police officer is now giving evidence in court and tells the jury the force has reviewed in excess of 100 hours of CCTV footage for this case.
The prosecution explains the jury will be taken through a series of CCTV clips in order.
The first shows a dark grey van, parked on a street early on Tuesday 30 April 2024, with a figure dressed in yellow emerging from the left and opening the front passenger door of the vehicle.
The police officer tells the jury the man - who he believes is Monzo - reveals a large rectangular shaped object from the van.
The second, very short, clip is at the same location. Again, the Met officer says the man can be seen at the van.
Subsequent clips show the route the dark grey van took on the day of the attacks.
For context: We heard last week that Donato Iwule had left Hainault station just before 6.45am on 30 April 2024 to walk to the Co-op, where he worked.
As he approached the junction with Laing Close at 6.51am, Monzo's grey van drove directly at Iwule.
It struck with "such force" that it sent him and the van into a garden, smashing a fence and a concrete post.
Monzo 'was talented martial artist'
Now, jurors are hearing a witness statement from the part-owner of a martial arts club in Hackney, where Monzo was previously a member.
In his statement, the owner describes Monzo as a "talented martial artist", particularly in Ju Jitsu.
But he left the club in 2023 - around seven years after he joined.
The court hears that at the time that he left, Monzo was "quieter" and "trained less regularly".