IS-Inspired Man Guilty Of Beheading Attempt

A 30-year-old man has been found guilty of attempting to behead a stranger at Leytonstone Tube station last December.

Muhiddin Mire attacked 56-year-old musician Lyle Zimmerman with a rusty knife and threatened four other travellers as he ran amok in the east London ticket hall. 

The whole incident was caught on CCTV - and on mobile phone footage taken by a passer-by who bravely carried on filming even as Mire lunged at him with the blade. 

An onlooker shouted "You ain't no Muslim, bruv" after Mire claimed he was doing it for "my Syrian brothers".

Police eventually stopped him with Taser stun guns. 

Mire, who was born in Somalia, had apparently been inspired by the murder of Fusilier Lee Rigby.

He had images of the soldier and the Islamic State executioner Mohammed Emwazi on his phone, as well as material linked to IS. 

The Old Bailey heard the minicab driver, who lived alone on benefits, had a history of mental illness.

Psychosis had led him to believe he was being persecuted for his religion, and stalked by MI5 and MI6. 

He had been referred to mental health services by his GP a month before the attack.   

A jury found Mire, from Sansom Road in Leytonstone, guilty of attempted murder. 

He had already admitted four counts of attempted wounding, and an alternative count of wounding with intent to cause Mr Zimmerman grievous bodily harm. 

He was remanded in custody at Broadmoor secure psychiatric hospital, ahead of sentencing next month.  

Mire targeted Mr Zimmerman as they travelled on the same train from Stratford to Leytonstone on 5 December. 

He followed the musician off the carriage, producing a black-handled knife with a serrated edge from his pocket.

As Mr Zimmerman approached the barriers, Mire grabbed him from behind, swung him round and on to the floor, and began to kick him repeatedly around the head and body.  

In front of shocked passengers, Mire then crouched down and began to "saw" at Mr Zimmerman's neck with the serrated blade.

Giving evidence from behind a screen, the victim told the jury: "At the time my subjective impression was that I was being attacked by a crazy person, a mentally unwell person." 

As Mire went up to street level, a junior doctor on his way home began to stem the flow of blood from Mr Zimmerman's neck.

Mire then threatened several other people, including Andrius Sabaliauskas, who tried to talk to him. 

Judge Nicholas Hilliard QC praised the "public spiritedness" of those who rushed in to help.  

He said: "It would have been very easy to continue one's journey on, but that did not happen." 

By Sky News Photo:  Sky News