www.theguardian.com
A woman has appeared in court accused of stabbing four men in the back with a pair of scissors in one of London’s busiest tourist districts.
Stella Gollovena, 47, is accused of attacking Patrick De Barr, Thomas Harding, Adrian Lovett and Mantas Jankus during the attack in Covent Garden on Wednesday lunchtime.
She has been charged with four counts of wounding with intent to cause grievous bodily harm and one count of possession of an offensive weapon, a pair of scissors, in a public place.
Gollovena, of no fixed address, faced the five criminal charges for the first time in a hearing at Highbury Corner magistrates court on Thursday afternoon.
The hearing was told police were flagged down in Endell Street, a popular tourist area filled with bars, theatres and restaurants, at about 12.25pm by one of the injured victims. He and a second man reported being stabbed, before the suspect was chased and Tasered.
The court heard police took statements from four men who were treated in hospital for stab wounds to their backs, while a fifth person said at the scene that they had also been stabbed but did not want to give a statement to police. It is alleged Gollovena had a pair of scissors – also described as a “pair of shears” – on her when she was arrested.
The deputy chief magistrate, Tan Ikram, remanded Gollovena in custody until the next hearing at Snaresbrook crown court on 3 September. Gollovena spoke to confirm her identity but did not enter any pleas to the charges.
An air ambulance helicopter landed in a packed Trafalgar Square on Wednesday afternoon after the stabbings and London ambulance service said it had “treated four patients at the scene and took them all to a major trauma centre as a priority by road”.
The Met said the four men – aged 34, 39, 42 and 56 – had stab wounds but had since been discharged from hospital as their injuries were not deemed life-threatening or life-changing.
