The officer who confronted Marcus Monzo during his deadly rampage in Hainault has described how his hand was sliced open by the killer’s samurai sword, saying: “The blade went very, very deep, cutting through all the tendons, all the muscles and all the nerves.”
Inspector Moloy Campbell was among the first responders on 30 April 2024, when Monzo killed 14-year-old Daniel Anjorin, almost decapitating him, and seriously injured police constable Yasmin Mechem-Whitfield during a frenzied attack in east London.
PC Cameron King who had been with Yasmin when she was stabbed had radioed for help.
“What I remember about that transmission was, that was not PC Cameron King, that was Cam.
“That was not police talk, that was his emotion, he was upset and he was panicking,” said Inspector Campbell.
“The lives of the police officers I was in charge of were at imminent risk… I made the decision, that he needed to be confronted.
“I was confident going in that I would make the arrest. I was wrong.
“But that doesn’t mean that it shouldn’t be tried, because that’s the job of a police officer, to try and preserve life and effect the arrest, and so it had to be done.”
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Speaking for the first time in detail about his injuries, he described the moment Monzo slashed at him as he attempted to bring the attacker down, armed only with a baton and pepper spray (Pava).
“I sprayed him with Pava. He did a triangle block which told me that this is an actual fighter.
“And then he started closing down the distance and slashing at me with the sword.
“The blade went down my arm slicing through my fleece and then nicking my hand on the way out.
“Nicking is the right term but due to the sharpness of it, it split my hand wide open so my thumb was hanging down and I could see inside of my hand.
“So at that point I was simply going to lose too much blood and so I had to withdraw and colleagues put a tourniquet on my arm, at which point I re-engaged and tried to coordinate officers. But I was going into shock.”
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Despite his injury, Inspector Campbell turned his attention to the overall policing picture, as nearby officers brought Monzo down using tasers.
He believes more lives could have been lost that day had it not been for the brave policing operation carried out.
“The actions of Cameron King, the actions of Yaz, and most certainly all of the officers who confronted him at the end and tasered him, undoubtedly saved lives.
“I’ve never been more sure of anything.”
The officers who responded that morning, he said, embodied the reality of policing.
“While I’m proud of what they did, I’m in no way surprised. They do it every single day. There is now, as I speak, a police officer somewhere in this country chasing someone with a knife.”
Three days after the the Hainault sword attack, some of the same officers who had confronted Monzo were back on duty.
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They responded again to a report of a man with a Samurai sword, showing what Campbell described as remarkable resilience.
Monzo, whose attack was fuelled by cannabis use, had bought the handmade Katana sword legally online.
While police found evidence of exposure to extremist content, there was no proof he had acted on any ideology.
He will be sentenced later today.
