Man jailed for stabbing emergency worker in heart outside hospital
Credit: PA/@london999
A man has been jailed for more than 12 years after admitting to stabbing an emergency services worker in the heart following an argument about a cap.
Mohammed Alinoor Uddin, 36, was drunkenly shouting during an altercation outside the Royal London Hospital, in Whitechapel, East London, when he was approached by a concerned emergency worker.
Uddin produced a blade from his waistband and plunged it into his victim, who was left crying out: ‘Please help me, don’t stab me.’
He swung again and narrowly missed his victim, only for an off-duty police officer to step in.
The victim’s life was dramatically saved by doctors who used a saw to open his chest and ease pressure on his heart – but say he would have died if he was not so close to the hospital.
Scotland Yard said in a statement that Uddin, of Tower Hamlets, London, had been sentenced to 12 years and nine months after he pleaded guilty to wounding with intent. He also admitted battery of an emergency worker.
Uddin was charged with attempted murder after police were called to Turner Street at 2.05pm to reports of men fighting.
The off-duty officer, PC Matt Evans, was walking down the road and ran to help, forcing Uddin to flee.
Mr Evans gave chase and caught the guilty man, who bit the West Midlands officer on the hand, but was restrained until more officers arrived to assist.
PC Evans explained: ‘When I saw the guy being stabbed, for me there wasn’t a choice to make, I had to stop him before he killed someone.
‘I’m glad everything turned out well in the end. The doctors, nurses, and hospital staff performed a miracle in saving that man’s life.’
The victim required ongoing medical treatment after being in a critical condition in hospital but has since made a full recovery, Scotland Yard added.
Branding Uddin a ‘dangerous offender’ The Common Serjeant of London Richard Marks QC highlighted his previous convictions for robbery and possessing knives in public.
The Old Bailey heard on Friday that Uddin was released from prison in July last year on licence as part of a 12-month jail sentence imposed in January for a burglary committed previously.
After stabbing his victim, the court heard Uddin shouted at him: ‘Pick up my cap and throw it back to me or I am going to stab you again’.
Judge Marks said: ‘You were armed with a knife and you were substantially under the influence of drink and class A drugs.
‘It appears (the victim) may have intervened in an altercation you were having with another individual at the scene. You produced a knife and you stabbed him in the chest through the heart.’
He continued: ‘You tried to stab him a second time, but you missed. He needed emergency life-saving treatment without which he would have died.
‘It is extremely fortunate, and through nothing you did, that you did not find yourself facing a charge of murder.’
Detective Constable Gavin Markey, who led the investigation, said: ‘This was a brutal attack and it is only by sheer luck that the victim was in the grounds of the hospital and able to receive immediate medical treatment. Had he not been so close by, doctors have made it clear he would have died.’
Get in touch with our news team by emailing us at webnews@metro.co.uk.
For more stories like this, check our news page.