The Golders Green knife suspect was known to the Prevent counter-extremism programme and was subject to a referral in 2020, which was closed in the same year, the Metropolitan Police said.
In a statement on Thursday, the Metropolitan Police said the suspect in the double stabbing attack in Golders Green was referred to the Government’s Prevent counter-extremism programme in 2020.
The Met said: “We can confirm the suspect was known to the Prevent programme and was subject to a Prevent referral in 2020, which was closed in the same year.
“Given the investigation remains ongoing, we will not be providing any further information in respect of this matter at this time and we remain focused on securing justice for the victims of this attack.”
Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer said Thursday the criminal justice system must respond to the suspected terrorist attack in Golders Green in “a swift, agile and visible way”, as he convened a meeting in Downing Street.
The Prime Minister said: “Today is about part of the response which is really important, which is the criminal justice response, because a number of people have been arrested, a number of them go through the criminal justice system, and it’s really important that we are able collectively to demonstrate that the response will be swift and visible.”
It comes as the government faces mounting pressure to tackle antisemitism in the UK following the suspected terror attack in Golders Green on Wednesday, in which two Jewish people were stabbed.
The Prime Minister said “an attack on our Jewish community is an attack on all of us”.
“What we saw last night was people being targeted because they are Jewish, I’m absolutely clear about that,” the Prime Minister told a meeting with criminal justice agencies in Downing Street following the double stabbing in Golders Green on Wednesday.
“There’s no getting away from the fact that this was not a one-off.
“This has been a series of attacks on our Jewish community, particularly in recent weeks, and there is a very deep sense of anxiety, of concern about security, about safety, about identity frankly.”
He continued that : “we have to understand” the “visceral feeling” among many British Jews, “and we have to be really clear that an attack on our Jewish community is an attack on all of us and we have to approach it in that way.”
Sir Keir said solidarity with the Jewish community was often voiced after such attacks.
“We do stand with our Jewish community – of course we do – but it’s our fight as well. It’s the fight of everyone in this country.”
Attendees included Metropolitan Police Commissioner Sir Mark Rowley, Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood, Deputy Prime Minister David Lammy, Attorney General Lord Richard Hermer, security minister Dan Jarvis, and Sarah Sackman, the justice minister who is Finchley and Golders Green MP.
The government has announced that a further £25m will be invested to increase police patrols and security to keep Jewish communities safe after an anti-semitic attack in north London.
It also said legislation will be fast-tracked in the coming weeks to target those acting on behalf of state-sponsored groups.
Police across the country have stepped up patrols in response to the attack that saw two Jewish men – 34-year-old Shilome Rand and 76-year-old Moshe Ben Baila, named locally as Moshe Shine – taken to hospital after being stabbed in Golders Green.
A 45-year-old man, said by police to be a Somali-born British national, was arrested following the incident.
“Suffice to say that this is not just an attack on Jewish people. This is much bigger, much broader, much more fundamental, and if you’re the group currently being targeted, well, who’s next?”
Counter-terrorism officers investigating the attack said they had searched an address in the south-east of the city after it was reported the suspect had been involved in a prior “altercation” with another person.
The Met said officers were called to an address in Great Dover Street, Southwark, at around 8.50 am, after a suspect armed with a knife is believed to have had an altercation with the occupant before leaving.
The occupant suffered minor injuries, but the suspect was not found and officers believe he is the same man arrested in Golders Green.
Speaking to ITV News on Wednesday, Rand said he blamed the government for “not doing its job” to protect the Jewish community.
He told ITV News UK Editor Paul Brand: “People are really concerned, people are afraid, people are uncomfortable walking in the street, people are blaming obviously the government for not doing anything about what’s going on.”
Speaking to Good Morning Britain on Thursday, the Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood responded by saying she “absolutely understands where Shilome Rand is coming from”, as she told GMB that the government are committing to a further £25m in investment to protect the Jewish community in the UK.
Mahmood said: “I want to reassure Shilome Rand, Moshe Shine, I will be setting out the practical measures we are taking on security, on policing, the enhanced police presence, the use of specialist trained officers and plain clothes officers as well.
“What I want to make clear to the victims of yesterday’s attack, but also to the wider Jewish community, is this government stands alongside them.
“I will not tolerate a situation where British Jews do not feel safe in their own country. They are just as much part of our national life as any other community. They have the right to go about their business in safety and security.
“My job as Home Secretary to make sure we are doing absolutely everything we can to keep our community safe.”
Chief Rabbi Sir Ephraim Mirvis called for “meaningful action” to tackle the “root causes” of antisemitism, while the Board of Deputies of British Jews said antisemitism must be “confronted, punished and deterred with the full force of the state”.
Footage of the attack posted online appears to show a man waiting at a bus stop putting on a kippah before an attacker lunges at him.
Another clip shows two police officers facing down the knife-wielding man in the middle of the road, before using a Taser and kicking him repeatedly in the head.
Body-worn footage released by the Metropolitan Police shows the moment their officers came face to face with the suspect, who could be seen walking towards them.
Warning: Some viewers may find this footage distressing
The officers could be heard shouting “get down on the ground” before tasering the man and grappling with him as they could be heard to shout repeatedly “drop the knife”.
A member of the public could also be seen intervening to help apprehend the suspect.
“The suspect refused to show his hands, was violent and continued to pose a clear threat,” the force said.
Britain’s most senior police officer, Sir Mark Rowley, said that the suspect has a history of serious violence and mental health problems.
Above: Moment the suspect is tasered by police in north London
Responding to the attack, Sir Keir Starmer vowed to tackle “malign state actors” linked to recent violence and has promised to visit Golders Green “as soon as possible”.
On Thursday, the government announced legislation will also be fast-tracked in the coming weeks to provide authorities with powers to target individuals and groups acting on behalf of state-sponsored organisations, following a number of incidents linked to Iranian proxies.
It means anyone acting as a proxy of a state-sponsored group can be investigated and prosecuted under the National Security Act, treating them in the same way as a foreign intelligence operative.
But the prime minister will face pressure to go further, including calls to ban pro-Palestinian marches.
Jonathan Hall, the former independent reviewer of terrorism legislation, said it was currently “impossible” for such marches not to “incubate” antisemitism.
Describing recent attacks on Jews as a “massive national security emergency”, he called for a “moratorium” on pro-Palestinian marches.
Above: Suspect lunges at a man in the street who manages to escape
His comments were echoed by the Chief Rabbi, who said “hate marches” together with “purposeful anti-Israel demonisation” had contributed to “a tone of antisemitism” in the UK.
Opposition politicians have also joined calls to ban the marches, with Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch saying it was “quite clear they are used as a cover for violence and intimidation against Jews”.
Meanwhile, police forces across the country said they would step up patrols in Jewish areas in response to Wednesday’s attack.
Greater Manchester Police said it had deployed extra officers around the city, with a “high-visibility presence within our Jewish communities in north Manchester, Bury and Salford”.
West Yorkshire Police and Thames Valley Police both said they would increase patrols to “provide additional reassurance”.
Figures covering the 12 months of 2025, published earlier this year by the Community Security Trust (CST), concluded the second-highest annual total ever recorded for anti-Jewish hate incidents, at 3,700, up 4% on the 3,556 incidents recorded in 2024.
The report noted that dozens of antisemitic incidents were reported in the aftermath of the deadly Manchester synagogue attack, some celebrating what had happened.
Worshippers Melvin Cravitz and Adrian Daulby were killed when 35-year-old Jihad Al-Shamie, a Syrian-born British citizen, drove into the gates of the Heaton Park synagogue in Crumpsall, Manchester, in October last year, and then began attacking with a knife, wearing a fake suicide belt.
It was the first fatal antisemitic terror attack in the UK since the CST began recording incidents in 1984.
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