‘Hero’ dad used hand to protect wife and daughter from sword attack
New details have emerged of an alleged attack on a sleeping family by the man accused of murdering schoolboy Daniel Anjorin with a Samurai sword.
Marcus Arduini Monzo, 36, has been charged with murdering Daniel, attempting to murder two others and injuring another two in a rampage in northeast London on Tuesday.
The injured include Henry de los Rios Polania, 35, who was asleep with his wife and four-year-old daughter when Monzo allegedly broke into their home.
A court heard Monzo stormed their bedroom shouting about God and attacked Henry.
Henry’s sister, Jessica, said her brother shielded his family from the attack and suffered a deep wound to his hand.
She said her brother was ‘traumatised’ by incident, adding: ‘He’s very devastated to believe something like this could happen.’
‘To us, he’s our hero. He protected them, my niece and my sister-in-law.
‘They were just literally sleeping, opened their eyes to see a man with a big machete sword.
‘He felt helpless in the moment but to us he is our hero. It could have been extremely worse.’
Henry, who was also said to have ben wounded in the neck, is currently recovering from his injuries in hospital.
Jessica said her brother and his family are too afraid to move back into their house after the attack and are struggling to sleep since.
Monzo, a dual Spanish-Brazilian national living in Newham, east London, is accused of hitting passer-by Donato Iwule when he crashed his van into a fence in Hainault.
A court heard he got out of the van, threatened to kill Donato and slashed him in the neck with his sword.
His alleged attack on Henry’s family took place 15 minutes later, prosecutors say.
After leaving their home he is accused of running up behind Daniel and slashing his neck before stabbing him in the chest as he lay on the ground.
When police officers arrived to help Daniel, some of them chased Monzo and two were attacked by him, the court heard.
Monzo is accused of attempting to murder PC Yasmin Margaret Mechem-Whitfield by knocking her to the ground and attacking her with his sword.
He is also charged with injuring Inspector Moloy Elec Campbell, committing aggravated burglary and possession of a bladed article.
Monzo described himself as a ‘mystic and a musician’ on his social media feed, which contained videos of him sparring in a boxing gym.
Neighbours reportedly described him as a ‘ghost’ who lived alone and had no friends.
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