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WALTHAMSTOW: Police hunt woman in burka over knife attacks

3:57pm Friday 8th April 2011 in Waltham Forest News By Daniel Binns

A WOMAN wearing a burka attacked two shoppers with a knife on separate occasions last week.

The two men were attacked as they looked at a shop window in Walthamstow's St James's Street, near Ladbrokes.

A 55-year-old received a graze to the leg in the first incident, which happened at around 11.30am on Friday (April 1).

A 42-year-old was stabbed in the leg, but not seriously, when he was attacked on Saturday (April 2) at about 3.40pm.

They were both rushed to hospital but have since been discharged.

Police say they cannot establish a motive for the attacks.

The woman, described as Asian, wore a full length black burka with mesh covering her eyes and a cream cotton jacket during the first attack.

She wore a full face covering head scarf, pink trousers and a beige jacket the second time.

On both occasions she was seen running off along Station Road and into Clacton Road.

A police spokesman said the weapon used was a black handled kitchen knife in both cases.

He added: "Did you witness this incident or have any information that may assist police with their enquiries?

"Call PC Rob Waring at Waltham Forest Police on 0203 276 0957 or, to remain anonymous, call Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111."

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Comments(24)

peeg says...
4:38pm Fri 8 Apr 11

Good luck finding her. Time to ban these full length coverings

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inézc says...
5:12pm Fri 8 Apr 11

Can't agree more Peeg. I don't know if anyone watches Shameless but this really reminds me of the woman in the supermarket there who terrorises people and nobody ever sees his/her face?

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tillytrotter says...
6:29pm Fri 8 Apr 11

I agree with both the above comments. How do police know if it is a WOMAN ? and how do the public know identities in this attire is not guaranteed 100%. I agree with equal opportunities but for the sake of security etc etc etc they should be banned. There is a policy not to wear motorbike helmets or hoods when entering banks and some other buildings this is not fair or acceptable.

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The Stowaway says...
8:34pm Fri 8 Apr 11

I'm not too sure about the Full face covering, perhaps it should read Fool face covering, April 1, all sounds suspicious to me.

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Truthgirl says...
10:33pm Fri 8 Apr 11

Can you hear yourselfs? One person out of how many? You are as bad as this islamaphobic media.

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Nairn says...
10:51pm Fri 8 Apr 11

Stowaway - it did happen. Many of us saw the police and ambulance in Clacton Road and we were told that the police came and arrested her in - certainly looked like that when I saw the aftermath. Did she escape from the police?

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rich-e17 says...
12:04pm Sat 9 Apr 11

i know its a serious crime but i can't help thinking about the police identity parade lol

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Truthgirl says...
2:29pm Sat 9 Apr 11

Hmm your laws, yeah great britain you have alot to be proud of just look at your crime rate and guess what its high

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no2facism says...
8:34pm Sat 9 Apr 11

I am a british muslim and proud. I believe women have a right to wear what ever they choose, so I support the burka. But if you ban the burka than ban EDL and BNP fascist is well.

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no2facism says...
8:41pm Sat 9 Apr 11

I think BNP leader Nick Griffin and EDL leader stephen Lennon should wear burka's to hide their grotesque faces, bunch of Geert wilder wannabes. This is a isolated incident so stop getting excited peepz. bobs ya uncle.

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sallyma says...
1:59am Sun 10 Apr 11

to all the racists on here i am neither asian or black but listen to yourselfs u all have to much to say bout id parades etc whay bout the little rats oh sorry gang members that cover there faces to kill why we not up in arms bout them oh yeah sorry u ball to scared to say anything so snm at least asian girls dont give it away i think it called morales no one knows the story so dont judge

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peeg says...
3:18am Sun 10 Apr 11

Thank you for all the illiterate responses. Personally I will ignore such poorly constructed arguments/replies. I am not an islamophobe and I'm surely not a racist. I believe in banning the burka on the grounds of security. Truthgirl you should appreciate your freedom of speech in the United Kingdom. You might be speaking rubbish in my opinion but be thankful you can actually say it. This comes from a mixed raced individual and of course a public schoolboy educated individual

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rainy8llorraine says...
10:58am Sun 10 Apr 11

Totally agree with peeg, Walthamstow and AvidLondonReader, Leytonstone. I agree with banning the burka as is being done in France.

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inézc says...
7:38pm Sun 10 Apr 11

Peeg and AvidLondonReader, couldn't agree more. Thank heavens that we do have freedom of speech in this country.

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Trollasarus says...
8:43am Mon 11 Apr 11

people have the right to dress how they like and no one has the right to tell them how they dress and how to dress.

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rainy8llorraine says...
8:59am Mon 11 Apr 11

Totally agree with ch815n, Chingford only last week in a national newspaper it was reported that crime rates have risen because of immigrants entering the UK. Trollasarus, Walthamstow you say no one has the right to tell people how to dress, go to a muslim country and tell them that. We should ban the burkha and then as in muslim countries we have set our own dress code, we are loosing our identity and should stick up for our beliefs and values more.

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ch815n says...
10:18am Mon 11 Apr 11

we can all where what we like can we ?, can we go to muslim countries, shirtless, girls in bikinis etc etc NOOOO !! we abide buy there laws over there whether we like it or not they should do the same here ! oherwise y one rule for muslims one for the rest ?

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Clear Thinking says...
12:53pm Mon 11 Apr 11

The phrase "When in Rome, do as the Romans do" appears appropriate and might stop this thread ending up hijacked

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jamjay says...
12:56pm Mon 11 Apr 11

Throughout British history & culture to cover one's face has always been a display of questionable agenda or something sinister, eg; the robber & highwayman, the executioner or even the condemned man. These burkas are offensive but our history & culture no longer matters in post NuLabour England. I will never vote for the BNP but I see why some folks do, unfortunatly.

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pan says...
5:26pm Mon 11 Apr 11

How do you know it was a woman? I think
that people should be allowed to wear whatever they like when attending religious ceremonies and or in their own home however what is good for the goose should be good for the gander, hoodies are banned in many shopping centres and you cant walk about with a crash helmet on so I think its fair that in shopping centres and public places one rule should apply to all.

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rainy8llorraine says...
10:02am Tue 12 Apr 11

Surely that is the point of people wanting the Burkha banned, who knows if it was a women or a man?

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Barry Croz says...
1:48pm Wed 13 Apr 11

This could be a real problem if there is a spate of such crime.

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Sean P says...
7:45pm Thu 14 Apr 11

The real crime here is the appalling assault on the English language by 'Truthgirl' and 'sallyma'. Shocking!

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faro0485 says...
12:50pm Tue 19 Apr 11

If there was no motive found for this, then we can always add to the possible motive of a political motivated attack so as in order to add suspicion to all those muslim ladies who cover their face.

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