'He's just killed that boy': Police video shows how Hainault attack unfolded

Daniel Anjorin waved goodbye to his mum as he walked out of the front door of his family home in Hainault at about 07:00, rucksack on his back and headphones on as he headed to school.

Moments later the 14-year-old was murdered by Marcus Monzo, who struck him with a 60cm sword causing devastating injuries to his face and neck.

Warning: this story contains details some may find distressing

The 37-year-old has been found guilty of his murder at the Old Bailey.

The Brazilian-Spanish national was also found guilty of attempting to murder local residents Donato Iwule and Sindy Arias, as well as PC Yasmin Mechem-Whitfield in a 20-minute rampage on 30 May 2024.

He was convicted of wounding with intent against Inspector Moloy Campbell and Ms Arias's husband Henry De Los Rios Polania.

Body-worn camera footage from the police officers showed the extraordinary bravery they displayed as they tried to disarm Monzo, suffering serious injuries as a result.

Daniel Anjorin wearing his school uniform

Monzo had started his rampage by driving his van straight into Donato Iwule, who was walking to work, his trial heard. This was captured on a doorbell camera. Mr Iwule was "catapulted" into the air, his piercing screams shattering the quiet morning.

Mr Iwule shouted that he did not know his attacker as Monzo, armed with the sword, chased him down the street telling him: "I don't care, I will kill you."

Monzo "moved quickly, like a predator", the court heard, moving behind Daniel before lifting the sword above his head and swinging it downwards towards his head and neck area.

As his body lay in the middle of the road, Monzo was seen to drag him. A woman exclaimed in shock "he's just killed that boy".

An ambulance arrived to try to treat the schoolboy but Monzo attacked the vehicle with his sword, causing the paramedics - who described it as "extremely frightening" - to retreat.

Police officers rushed in screaming "drop the sword, drop the sword" as they stood toe-to-toe with him. Pepper spray proved ineffective and, as Monzo shouted "does anybody here believe in God?", they chased him down an alleyway.

'Don't let me die here'

Armed with a Taser, PC Yasmin Mechem-Whitfield led the pursuit, which was captured on police-worn body cameras.

When she got to the end of the alleyway, Monzo jumped out and slashed her three times with the sword. She fell to the ground bleeding as her colleague, PC Cameron King, screamed "police officer stabbed, police officer stabbed, Yas has been stabbed".

PC King said he was "petrified", while PC Mechem-Whitfield told her colleague "don't let me die here".

Henry De Los Rios Polania was asleep with his wife and four-year-old daughter when Monzo burst into their bedroom.

In a terrifying conversation, he repeatedly asked them if they believed in God and then slashed Mr De Los Rios Polania with the sword as he raised his arm to protect his wife.

When their daughter started crying, Monzo said he would spare their lives and walked out of the house leaving Mr De Los Rios Polania with serious injuries to his hand.

Inspector Moloy Campbell fought Monzo with his baton as shown by this bodycam footage

Despite the injury to their colleague the police officers ran towards Monzo as he appeared to be cornered by a set of garages.

In remarkable police video, which resembles hand-to-hand combat, Inspector Moloy Campbell raised his baton as Monzo brought down his sword trying to slash him. The police baton and Monzo's sword clashed twice as Inspector Campbell tried to defend himself and disarm Monzo.

"Monzo was slashing at me with a large sword," Inspector Campbell said. "I saw my hand was open - I could see the inside of my hand."

Eventually officers fired a number of Tasers at Monzo and managed to arrest him, removing the sword that had caused so much bloodshed.

Flat earth and ayahuasca

During a police interview, Monzo claimed his personality had switched and he compared the events to the movie The Hunger Games. He also told police that he had "many personalities" and that one of them was a "professional assassin".

Monzo, who grew up in Brazil and moved to England in 2013, gave evidence in court.

He spoke in a calm manner - occasionally weeping - and while he admitted attacking people with the sword in Hainault he insisted he could not remember doing so, claiming everything about the day was confused in his mind.

Monzo was a martial arts enthusiast who believed in conspiracy theories - including that the earth was flat. He denied the 9/11 attacks on New York and posted on X claims that were antisemitic and promoted conspiracy theories.

His brother said he had changed after attending retreats in India and the Amazon where he drank ayahuasca, a hallucinogenic tea.

After a visit to India in 2018, Monzo said he began to engage in some "very extreme" practices, including drinking and washing himself with his own urine. He said he became distant from his family and followed various practices, including sleeping and eating as little as possible.

Both the prosecution and defence agreed Monzo's had a psychotic disorder. However, prosecutors said his behaviour was triggered "by self-induced intoxication in the form of drugs" through his use of cannabis, which led to the psychosis. The defence claimed he was "most likely suffering from a pre-existing condition".

He had bought the sword two months before the attack, videoing himself with his cat, unboxing it and calling it "freaking sexy" and simulating "ninja stuff".

On the day of the attack he strangled his cat and tried to eat it.

That morning, Monzo said he had felt the onset of "something like Armageddon" and he believed "the world was collapsing".

In court Monzo accepted attacking people with a sword but said he did not have a clear memory of it

Tears in court

Daniel Anjorin's father sat in court throughout the trial, listening to disturbing evidence about how his son was killed and watching the police videos of Monzo with his sword attacking others that day.

He was sat just feet away from Monzo as he told the court he did not remember attacking Mr Anjorin's son.

Mr Anjorin was occasionally in tears as he listened to the evidence, as were some of the jurors. One juror asked to be excused due to the graphic nature of the evidence.

When Daniel was killed, the Anjorin family said in a statement that it was difficult for them to fathom that "Daniel had left the house for school and then he was gone."

"Our children have lost their loving and precious brother and we have lost the most loved and amazing son," they said.