Suspect in London samurai sword attack that killed 14-year-old appears in court

UPI
Marcus Arduini Monzo appeared in a London court today after being charged with killing 14-year-old Daniel Anjorin, pictured here, and injuring four other people with a samurai sword. Photo courtesy Metropolitan Police

May 2 (UPI) -- A 36-year-old London-based man made an initial appearance in court on Thursday after being suspected of killing a 14-year-old boy with a sword earlier this week while injuring several others.

Marcus Arduini Monzo, of dual Spanish-Brazilian nationality, confirmed his name at Westminster Magistrates' Court and was remanded in custody.

Chief Magistrate Paul Goldspring scheduled his next appearance for May 7 at the Old Bailey unless a hearing is available on Friday.

Along with a murder count, Monzo has also been charged with two counts of attempted murder, two counts of causing grievous bodily harm, aggravated burglary and possession of a bladed article in the attack in which 14-year-old Daniel Anjorin was killed and four other people including two police officers were seriously injured.

Prosecutors said Morzo crashed a van into a fence in Laing Close on Tuesday morning, striking a person before getting out of the vehicle, saying he would kill the man and slashing his neck with a samurai sword.

He then broke into the bedroom of a nearby home and attacked a man who was in bed with his family including a 4-year-old child, they said.

Prosecutors said this was when he attacked Anjorin, who was walking to school.

He then hid behind a bush but emerged when officers tried to help the boy, attacking them and leaving a female office with "horrifically serious" wounds on her arm.

Students and staff at the Bancroft School in Woodford Green, where Anjorin attended classes, said they were crushed by the loss, calling him a "true scholar" and "an amazing young man."

Authorities said they responded to the call of a vehicle crash Tuesday morning in Hainault in East London initially, where witnesses said a man got out of a car and started stabbing people with a long sword.

In all, five people needed medical attention at hospitals after the attack, including Anjorin who died shortly after arriving to a medical facility.