LONDON—A man who stabbed a social worker who was conducting welfare checks on three children has said they were kept indoors for “over a year” because of fears of COVID-19.
Sulai Man, 34, denies attempting to murder Themba Nkomo, 61, who was attacked in the hallway outside a flat in Wood Green, north London, on Aug. 6, 2021.
Man also denies wounding police constables David Turpin and Luke Smith with intent, when they went to the aid of Nkomo, who was stabbed eight times.
The trial at the Old Bailey has heard Man, who is also known as Sulai Bukhari, had a long-running dispute with Haringey Council’s social services department, which had repeatedly sought to gain access to the flat to check on the children.
On Wednesday Man was cross examined by prosecutor Simon Ray about the incident and why he had been so determined not to allow social workers to access the flat.
Ray asked him, “In August 2021, how long had it been since the children had been outside?”
Man replied, “Over a year, because of the coronavirus.”
Man said there had been “10,000 emails” between himself and social services about the issue of them conducting welfare checks on the children.
The defendant was later asked about his belief that the children would be classed as Do Not Resuscitate (DNR) in the event of them catching COVID-19.
Man said he had read an article that suggested there was an NHS policy in place during the pandemic which classed people with special needs as being DNR.
Ray said: “That is not in fact the case. I’m not disputing that is what you believed. In the first wave of the coronavirus it was discovered that DNR was in place for certain people, not necessarily children, and that had caused real concern and the NHS concluded that should not have been the case.”
Man replied: “I didn’t know they changed their policy. Are you saying they changed their policy?”
Jury Shown Body Camera Footage of Attack
The court was then shown body camera footage from police officers as they forced entry into the flat after failing to persuade a woman to open the door.Man had gone outside before the police arrived and was lurking in a communal area, wearing a mask and a black hoodie, and clutching a Swiss army-style knife in his hand.
Suddenly, after the police gained entry to the flat using bolt cutters to cut a chain on the door, Man attacked Nkomo, who had been left in the hallway by the front door.
Man repeatedly referred to Haringey social services and the police as a “private army” and he said: “Nkomo was part of that private army because of the way he was conducting himself.”
“You decided he deserved to die, didn’t you?” asked Ray.
“No,” replied Man.
The defendant described the attack on Nkomo and the police officers as a “moment of desperation.”
The trial continues.
The children in the case cannot be identified for legal reasons.
