Mass in a south London church was thrown into chaos yesterday when a naked man brandishing a sword went berserk and began attacking worshippers. Eleven people were injured in the incident, and three are reported to be in serious condition.
A 35-year-old man was arrested after the attack at St Andrew's Catholic Church in Thornton Heath. No motive for the attack has been established. Some of those injured suffered stab wounds while others were hurt in the ensuing panic as worshippers tried to escape the scene.
Scotland Yard said the attacker lived in the vicinity, but did not disclose his identity.
But neighbours named the attacker as Mr Eden Strang, a married man with a young daughter. They said they had seen him in his window earlier standing naked with sword in hand before running towards the church.
One neighbour, Mr Terry Walden, said he had called the police on his mobile phone.
Ambulances took the victims, all of them adults, to the nearby Mayday Hospital where three were operated on. One of the injured was taken by air ambulance to St George's Hospital in Tooting, south London.
The most seriously injured victim was found collapsed on the pavement two streets from the church. He was discovered by paramedics who followed a trail of blood. The man's jaw and neck were slashed and his thumb and index finger were completely severed. Surgeons were attempting to reattach his fingers.
The parish priest, Father John O'Toole, paid tribute to the quick action of Const Tom Tracey, an off-duty policeman who was attending the service. Const Tracey tore a pipe from the church organ and hit the man over the head with it. The attacker was then overpowered by other members of the congregation and held until the police arrived.
Const Tracey, who was with his daughter aged 13 at the time, said: "Five minutes previously I was singing the psalm and next things you're fighting with a sword-wielding assailant. It was one scenario moving to the extreme within a couple of minutes."
Canon John Lennon, who had been saying Mass, said men in the congregation grabbed the naked man and got him down to the floor. "Armed officers came very quickly and he was taken away."
About 70 children attending Sunday school in a neighbouring hall escaped the onslaught. "There were about 400 people at the service, and 100 children were luckily in the hall next to the church at the time. They were preparing to come back into the church at the time of the attack," said Canon Lennon.
Mr Kumar Surandran, who helped to restrain the attacker, said: "I was at the head end holding him down with around five other people and talking to the police on my mobile phone until they arrived. He was struggling a lot and shouting, but I don't know what he was saying . . . It was a big sword, like a Samurai sword."