A brave police officer who was injured as he ran to confront psychotic swordsman Marcus Monzo has said there was “no time for fear” as lives were on the line.
Inspector Moloy Campbell reflected on the lengths to which he and his team went to prevent further loss of life after Monzo killed 14-year-old Daniel Anjorin during a 20-minute rampage in Hainault, east London.
Before Mr Campbell’s arrival on the morning of April 30 last year, Monzo had repeatedly struck Pc Yasmin Mechem-Whitfield with a samurai sword and was still on the loose.
Mr Campbell told the PA news agency: “As we were heading to the incident my sergeant was driving and I was in the operator seat. As we heard that transmission ‘police officer stabbed, police officer stabbed’ I turned to him and said: ‘Just get us there, don’t speed up, don’t let red mist get to you. We need to get there and get control of this incident.'”
He said his thoughts were entirely focused on the need to “preserve life”, including that of his officers on the ground.
Mr Campbell took the decision to confront Monzo in a car park and ran at him with baton drawn in terrifying scenes captured on police body-worn video. He said: “There was no time for fear. That is not a reflection of bravery of me or anyone else, it’s a fact, there was no time for that.
“There is a job to be done and there was an objective that needed to be met and that was, as I say, the preservation of life.
“At that point there was no help coming. Armed police were coming but they were 10, 15 minutes away and that’s far too long in that situation. That’s not the fault of my colleagues, it’s just the way it played out on that morning.”
“It was a case of doing what I thought needed to be done. It was a decision of – do we contain the defendant or do we confront. The decision was to confront because I felt had we done anything else then more members of the public and potentially police officers would have been seriously injured or worse.”
Mr Campbell, who suffered a slash wound to his hand, said “luck” and “good instincts” of members of the public meant no more people were killed by Monzo that day.
He said that he felt enormous pride for his team who managed to detain the 37-year-old suspect.
“They did what we do every day. We chase people with knives. We chase people with offensive weapons. They were there to do what they do every day, so it was no surprise, but what they did undoubtedly saved further loss of life.
“I’m proud of them every day and they needed no supervision nor direction to chase down a man with a sword. That should speak volumes.
“But right now as I speak there is probably a police officer somewhere in the country chasing someone with a knife or something else.
“What we saw in Hainault was extraordinary circumstances in the way it turned out but it’s not unusual to have someone running round with a knife at 7am. It’s not unusual at all.”
On the work of his team, Mr Campbell said: “They regularly turn out from parade and go on blue lights having been asleep two hours ago and switch into that mode.”
Asked whether their bravery made them heroes, he said: “I think to describe yourself as a hero would be slightly distasteful. I think they know what I think of them in terms of whether they are a hero or not.”
On the impact of the Hainault attack, he said: “In terms of the ongoing effect there is much recovery for many of the officers to be done.
“However three days later they were back in the car and they were responding to the same incident. I took more time off because I was still recovering – I took four months off and came back when I could use my hand again.
“In the second shift the first call came out ‘male with a samurai sword in a park making thrusting gestures at the public’.
“Yet again the same officers got into their car and went with blue lights on and ran at that person. The same officers who had been involved in the other one.
“I was on my way as well – although my heart beat slightly quicker. It just goes to show that they had been through it and, yes, they had been affected, but it does not distract them from what they are doing and what they were expected to be doing.”
Mr Campbell sat at the Old Bailey throughout Monzo’s murder trial and was in court when he was found guilty on Wednesday.
On his reaction, he said: “My entire thoughts were for the family of Daniel. I spoke to my team and thanked them again and filled them in on the finer details.
“My thoughts were for Daniel’s family who I am humbled by – incredible people. I think the jury came to the right decision.”
Chief Superintendent Stuart Bell said he was “incredibly proud” of the police response.
“The scale and severity of the attack was intense and quite widespread and throughout the entire incident our officers responded with courage, placing their own safety second, trying to prevent harm to others first, showing great courage and bravery and teamwork to eventually detain Monzo.
“That type of incident is rare thankfully but the notion of our officers running towards and dealing with dangerous situations is not.
“Eighteen officers a day in London are assaulted dealing with calls. The behaviour our officers displayed that day is displayed every day, the fearlessness, the courage, the self-sacrifice. Frankly, Moloy and Yasmin both suffered severe injuries as a result of them attempting to prevent harm to others and our officers take that action every day.”
Speaking ahead of Monzo’s sentencing on Friday, Mr Bell paid tribute to the schoolboy who lost his life.
He said: “Daniel was universally described as a talented, gentle young man with great potential with a life ahead of him who was loved by so many.
“His untimely death is a tragedy and words do not come close to describing how tragic, how random the events which befell Daniel were.
“His family have been nothing but dignified, resilient and behaved with the most incredible courage and we are frankly in awe of them.
“All we could do was try to bring some form of justice to Daniel and the family and now give them the space to move on and grieve.”
Mr Bell said Monzo’s actions were induced by cannabis and even though it was a concern he had been exposed to extreme views on social media – including far-right and incel ideology – there was no evidence he had enacted anything he had seen online.
Despite efforts to clamp down on the sale of knives online, Monzo had bought an expensive handmade Katana sword legally.
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