Met Police officer speaks of ordeal as knife attacker is sentenced

PC Joe Gerrard said officers faced such jeopardy "day in, day out"

A police officer who was stabbed five times has told the BBC that he thought he was going to die.

PC Joe Gerrard suffered a punctured a lung and was unable to work for about a year as a result of the stabbing.

He spoke to BBC London ahead of the sentencing of his attacker Mohammed Rahman for attempted murder.

At Kingston Crown Court on Friday, 25-year-old Rahman was given a life sentence. He received a minimum prison term of 20 years.

Rahman stabbed PC Gerrard and his colleague PC Alannah Mulhall after they responded to a report of a drink being spiked at a nightclub in Soho, on 16 September 2022. PC Mulhall sustained a deep knife wound to her arm.

PC Gerrard said he was left "absolutely dripping in blood" and struggling to breathe. "I knew it was serious and I was thinking 'I'm probably going to die here'," he said.

Recounting the events leading up to the stabbing, PC Gerrard said he and another female colleague were joined by PC Mulhall and a male officer to deal with the drink-spiking report.

PC Mulhall and the other female officer took the disorientated victim to an ambulance, where a member of the public approached them and said Rahman had taken his phone at knifepoint

At this point, PC Gerrard and his male colleague were making inquiries inside the club.

PCs Gerard and Mulhall are back on duty after long recoveries

"When we were in the ambulance, I can hear an argument going on outside," PC Mulhall said.

"[It] sounds a bit silly but I've never had a gut feeling in my life about anything, but the second I saw the suspect walking towards us, I knew something wasn't right."

The two female officers approached Rahman and he lunged at them before running off.

'Intent on killing'

Alerted to the situation, PC Gerrard and the other male officer went outside.

"There was no-one in the ambulance; our colleagues were gone, there were no paramedics," he said.

PC Gerrard and his colleague soon found the other two officers. Rahman reappeared and was Tasered, but it had little effect due to his thick clothing.

"It's clear he was intent on killing one of us," said PC Gerrard, who tried to restrain him but was stabbed in the arm.

Rahman then turned to PC Mulhall and stabbed her right arm, cutting her down to the bone. "It all happened so quick," she said.

Mohammed Rahman, of Westbourne Park Road in Notting Hill, was convicted of attempted murder and other offences in October

Backup had arrived and Rahman was Tasered again, at which point he dropped his knife.

PC Gerrard tried to kick the knife away from Rahman but the 25-year-old got back up, punched the officer and grabbed the knife again.

"He then grabbed hold of me, grabbed hold of my body-worn camera, and he was just repeatedly stabbing me," PC Gerrard said.

Rahman was finally restrained when he was Tasered once more.

• Man who stabbed police officers found guilty of attempted murder

PC Gerrard said: "The injuries have lasted. It has taken me a good year to recover."

He has been back at work for less than two months and remains on limited duties. PC Mulhall, who was off work for five months, is now back on patrol.

"I don't want to let this incident shape my whole life," she said.

Reflecting on the challenges police officers face, PC Gerrard said the situation that night was "not really abnormal".

"We see stuff like this day in, day out. It happens all over London, all over the country; dealing with people brandishing knives, attacking people and hurting people," he said.

"We are not the last police officers to be stabbed. There's been plenty since and, hopefully not, but it will probably happen again."

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