Man accused of stabbing two Jewish men in Golders Green knife attack denies attempted murder
Essa Suleiman pleaded not guilty to stabbing Shloime Rand and Norman Shine in a north London knife attack.
A man accused of stabbing two Jewish men in the street in Golders Green has denied attempted murder.
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Essa Suleiman, 45, is accused of targeting Shloime Rand, 34, and Norman Shine, 76, in a knife attack in the north London neighborhood on 29 April this year.
He also pleaded not guilty to a third count of attempted murder relating to an unconnected incident earlier that day.
Suleiman appeared at the Old Bailey via CVP link on Friday.
He is due to stand trial at the Old Bailey from March 1 2027.
The court previously heard that on the day of the incident, the defendant attended the home address of his friend Mr Hussein and attacked him with a knife.
Read more: 'They could have killed me': Jewish man feared for his life during Golders Green antisemitic attack
He is accused of then making his way by public transport to the Golders Green area, where he allegedly set about attacking two people.
Deanna Heer KC told the earlier hearing that both victims were “obviously members of the orthodox Jewish community by the way they were dressed at the time”.
Mr Rand, 34, had been studying at a synagogue in Highfield Avenue when he was allegedly attacked by the defendant who came towards him and stabbed him once to the chest.
Suleiman is then accused of attacking Mr Shine, 76, who was said to have sustained a number of stab wounds which caused him to be taken to hospital.
The court was told that the incident came to an end when another member of public intervened to try to disarm the defendant and take the knife from him.
Emergency services then arrived.