A 32-year-old man has been charged with attempted murder after an 11-year-old girl was stabbed in Leicester Square, central London, on Monday. 

Ioan Pintaru, of no fixed address, was charged with attempted murder and possession of a bladed article, the Metropolitan Police said today.

He was remanded in custody to appear at Westminster Magistrates’ Court later this morning.

Police were called to tourist hotspot Leicester Square shortly after 11.30am yesterday following reports of a stabbing and found the girl, 11, with stab wounds.

She was taken to hospital where her injuries, while serious, were assessed as non-life threatening.

Police officers were called to the scene following reports of a stabbing in Leicester Square, in central London, at about 11.30am on Monday

It was initially believed that the girl’s mother, a 34-year-old woman, was also hurt – but it was later confirmed that blood from her daughter’s injuries had been mistaken for injuries of her own, Scotland Yard said.

More to follow…