LONDON police on Tuesday (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 (12). She was taken to hospital with serious but not life threatening injuries. Pintaru was swiftly arrested and officers were not looking for anyone else in connection with the attack.
The police have stated that they do not believe the girl and the suspect knew each other, and they do not consider the stabbing to be terror-related.
The girl's mother, 34, received minor injuries during the incident in the busy central London area which is popular with tourists.
"An urgent investigation is now ongoing and detectives are working to establish the details around exactly what happened," the police said. "At this stage we don't believe the suspect and the victims were known to 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 rumours spread online that the attacker was a Muslim asylum seeker. Police forces remain on high alert after days of riots.
(Agencies)
A protestor is detained by the police during a demonstration against the proposed site of the new Chinese Embassy, outside Royal Mint Court, in London. REUTERS/Carlos Jasso. 
