A retired police dog handler has recounted the harrowing moment he was stabbed seven times by the man now suspected of carrying out the Golders Green attacks. Neil Sampson, 65, from Swindon, Wiltshire, was targeted by Essa Suleiman, 45, in January 2008 while responding to another stabbing incident involving the Somali-born British national.
Suleiman has been named as the suspect in the stabbings of two Jewish individuals in north London on Wednesday. The victims, Shloime Rand, 34, and Moshe Ben Baila, 76, remain in hospital in a stable condition. Police have stated that Suleiman has a history of serious violence and mental health issues.
Mr Sampson, who was accompanied by his German Shepherd Anya, had been dispatched to a knife attack by Suleiman on his fellow tenant, Ahmed Huriye, in the Liden area of Swindon. However, the officer soon became the target of a vicious assault, suffering seven stab wounds to the back of his head, face, and leg. Anya and another officer were also stabbed during the incident.
Reflecting on the attack, Mr Sampson told the Daily Mail: "That wasn't my best day at work but I was still living and breathing. I was stabbed seven times by him and many people get stabbed once and that's all that they ever have and they're dead. So to be stabbed seven times and be alive is great."
The grandfather-of-five described the sequence of events: upon arrival, he saw a man exiting the flats who matched the suspect's description. When Mr Sampson called out to him, the man turned and approached, revealing blood on his jogging bottoms. Despite warnings to drop the knife, Suleiman continued advancing. Mr Sampson released Anya, but the dog was thrown off. The officer then saw Suleiman attack a colleague before turning on him, stabbing him repeatedly. "He never said a word," Mr Sampson recalled. "Not a sound. He was batoned, sprayed, tasered." It was only when a Taser was deployed to his groin that Suleiman uttered a single word: "Ouch."
Bodycam footage from the recent north London attacks shows Metropolitan Police officers also subduing Suleiman with a Taser after he resisted arrest. Mr Sampson noted that two ex-military officers who fought him described him as unlike anyone they had ever encountered.
Previous Conviction and Release
In July 2008, Suleiman admitted to the attacks and was initially detained under an interim hospital order for psychiatric testing. However, in December 2008, Swindon Crown Court ruled he should be sent to prison rather than hospital, as doctors reported he was of sound mind after staying off drugs in custody. Judge Douglas Field stated: "The latest report shows that the defendant, separated from his drug of choice whilst in prison and hospital, is now in his right mind." Suleiman received an indefinite sentence but was released on licence several years ago.
Mr Sampson expressed concern about the release, saying: "I get that indefinite sentences are a strange thing. They give the person no hope and if you've got no hope, why would you ever behave? So, I'm not against people being given second chances, but when they said they were going to release him, my thoughts were, prisoners play a game. They know they have to say the right things and do the right things if they ever want to get released."
He added: "My only hope is that his next victim is as lucky as I was. Because I consider myself lucky. Most people say you get stabbed once. That's not lucky. But I think I was lucky because I'm still alive. Thankfully, the victims in Golders Green are also still alive."
Broader Concerns
Mr Sampson first suspected Suleiman might be the arrested man when reading news on Thursday morning, noting the similarity of the attack. The Metropolitan Police have also searched an address in south-east London following the Golders Green attacks, investigating an incident reported just before the north London stabbings, believed to be perpetrated by Suleiman.
The retired officer criticized the justice system, stating: "Go to a court, you'll see people queuing up to stand by the offenders, but the victims are often left to sit amongst the family of the offender. This is just another symptom of that – they just let these people do what they like without great consequence."
He emphasized the need for firmer application of the law: "There's got to be consequences for people who behave badly, and if they behave really badly, the consequences are irrelevant compared to the rights of the innocent individuals they hurt."
Despite his ordeal, Mr Sampson expressed empathy: "Did I wish him ill health or harm? No, not really. I wouldn't wish any harm on him. And if I never heard his name again, and he got on and had a good life, fair play to him. But he's not that sort of person."
In 2010, Anya was awarded the PDSA Gold Medal, the animal equivalent of the George Cross, for her bravery. Suleiman, originally from Camberwell, south London, came to the UK legally in the 1990s. It has been revealed he was referred to the government's anti-extremism programme Prevent in 2020, but the case was closed a year later. He is understood to have worked as a Somali translator and a school security guard.
