London police on Tuesday, August 13, said they had charged a man with attempted murder after an 11-year-old girl was stabbed in one of the capital's busiest tourist areas. Ioan Pintaru, 32, will appear before a court later, a police statement said.
The girl was with her mother when she was attacked in Leicester Square on Monday. She was taken to hospital with serious but not life-threatening injuries. Police have said they do not believe that the girl and the suspect knew each other.
The incident came two weeks after a knife attack in Southport, northwest England, in which three girls were killed and eight other children injured, as well as two adults.
The mass stabbing sparked riots across England, after rumors spread online that the attacker was a Muslim asylum seeker.