Remanded in custody until his \u200bnext appearance at London\u2019s Old Bailey court on May 15
\n london
\nA 45-year-old man appeared in a London court \u200bon Friday, charged with attempted murder over an attack during which two Jewish men were stabbed in Golders Green, north London, \u200cin what police are treating as a terrorist incident.
\nIn its wake, government officials raised the national terrorism threat to its second-highest level, meaning a terrorist attack is highly likely within the next six months.
\nThe stabbings, on Wednesday, followed a spate of incidents targeting Jewish premises in the same area of north London, home to a large \u200bJewish population, prompting British Prime Minister Keir Starmer to vow stronger action to protect Jewish people.
\nPro-Palestinian marches, which critics say have \u200bencouraged antisemitism, could now face new restrictions amid widespread calls for more protection for Britain\u2019s small Jewish community of about 290,000.
\nEssa Suleiman appeared at London\u2019s Westminster Magistrates\u2019 Court charged with two counts of the \u200battempted murder of 34-year-old Shloime Rand and 76-year-old Moshe Shine, named in the charges as Norman Shine, and possession of a bladed article in \u200brelation to Wednesday\u2019s attack.
\nSuleiman, a British national who was born in Somalia, was also charged with attempted murder in relation to a separate incident earlier on the same day in south London, when prosecutor Emma Harraway said he had visited a man\u2019s home and allegedly tried to stab him. He allegedly then travelled to the north \u200bof the British capital later that day, she said.
\nThe first victim, Rand, had been studying at a synagogue in Golders Green and was \u200bwearing \u201ctraditional clothing associated with an Orthodox Jewish man\u201d when Suleiman allegedly ran at him and stabbed him with the knife, Harraway said.
\nSuleiman then allegedly attacked Shine, also \u200cwearing traditional Jewish attire, as he waited at a bus stop, the prosecutor added, before the suspect was arrested by police using a stun gun, Harraway said.
\nRand suffered a punctured lung but has since been released from the hospital, while Shine suffered a stab wound to his neck, although the wound was not life-threatening.
\nSuleiman, flanked by two security guards, appeared in the dock wearing a grey tracksuit, often stroking his goatee beard, and \u200bwas remanded in custody until his \u200bnext appearance at London\u2019s Old Bailey court on May 15.
\nSpeaking only to confirm his name and date of birth, he did not indicate any pleas to the charges, and the court was told by the prosecution that his address was a \u200bmental health facility in south London.
\nThe incident has taken on a political dimension \u200bahead of local government elections on May 7, which are likely to see Starmer\u2019s Labour Party suffer heavy losses and could even trigger an internal challenge to his leadership.
\nReform UK leader Nigel Farage and Conservative Party leader Kemi Badenoch both visited the site of the attack to amplify a message, voiced by some in the community, \u200bthat the government had failed to protect Jews.
\nStarmer, who has condemned the incident and \u200bpledged more funding and tougher legislation, was heckled by a small group of people when he visited, as was London police chief Mark Rowley <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Remanded in custody until his \u200bnext appearance at London\u2019s Old Bailey court on May 15 london A 45-year-old man appeared in a London court \u200bon Friday, charged with attempted murder over an attack during which two Jewish men were stabbed in Golders Green, north London, \u200cin what police are treating as a terrorist incident. In […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":544190,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-544179","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-world"],"yoast_head":"\n