Chilling moment jihadi flees Marks & Spencer after stabbing rampage

Chilling moment jihadi flees Marks & Spencer after stabbing rampage is revealed as he faces life in jail for knifing store manager in the neck before being foiled by shopper’s handbag

• Munawar Hussain, 59, stabbed two women in a Burnley M&S in December 2020
• His extremist attack was thwarted by strap on customer Janet Dell’s handbag 
• Read more: Marks and Spencer manager tells how she fought off knifeman 

A shocking video shows the moment a shop assistant and a customer were stabbed by an Islamic extremist in a busy Marks & Spencer.  

Munawar Hussain, 59, is facing life in jail after he knifed Samatha Worthington, 41, in the neck and pursued her through the Burnley shop before turning on customer Janet Dell, stabbing her in the arm, jurors were told.

The footage shows Hussain entering the store before chasing the women through aisles of products as they slip on their own blood. 

The December 2020 attack only came to an end by an ‘incredible stroke of luck’ when Hussain’s blade broke after getting stuck in his second victim’s handbag strap as he tried to stab her in the back. 

Having lost the knife, the video shows Hussain fleeing but he was chased from the shop by a store detective who confronted and detained him nearby.

Manchester Crown Court heard previously how Samantha Worthington (pictured) was knifed near to her jugular vein by Munawar Hussain, 59, before he chased her through the store in Burnley, Lancashire, in December 2020

Munawar Hussain, 59, entering the Marks & Spencer where he would stab two women in an extremist attack 

The extremist was found guilty on Friday of attempting to murder the store manager, Samantha Worthington, 41, and of wounding with intent against customer Janet Dell by a jury at Manchester Crown Court.

Judge Nicholas Dean KC said: ‘An offence arising out of claims that Israel was causing atrocities against Muslims, and an attack of retribution for that, at face value, is precisely the definition of a terrorist offence.’

He adjourned sentencing until May for reports. Attempted murder carries a maximum sentence of life imprisonment.

The lives of the women were saved by the knife brought by Hussain to the attack breaking after it became caught in a handbag strap 

Hussain flees the scene of the jihadist-inspired attack in December 2020 after he stabbed the two women in the Burnley M&S 

Although the attacker fled he was pursued by a store detective, who caught him and dragged him back to wait for the police 

Hussain, who struck at the M&S branch in Burnley, Lancashire, on December 2, 2020, told police he wanted to die as a martyr and was inspired by Usman Khan, the terrorist who stabbed two Cambridge graduates to death at a prisoner rehabilitation conference at Fishmongers’ Hall on London Bridge in 2019.

The knifeman was found with a note, written in Urdu, which read: ‘O Israel, you are inflicting atrocities on Palestinians and Marks Spencer is helping you financially.’ 

Giving evidence, Hussain said he believed in supporting jihad and had launched the attack so that: ‘Allah will be happy with me.’

He initially said he intended to kill his victims and, if the knife had not broken, he would have attacked more people but later claimed he only meant to wound the women.

Ms Worthington – stabbed close to her jugular vein – told the court she pledged she would stay alive for her three children after she was stabbed.

Hussain was arrested near the scene (pictured being led away by officers) and has been found guilty of attempted murder and wounding with intent 

She told police: ‘He just looked like a normal customer.

‘The next thing I know, I thought, “He’s stabbed me”, like a really big punch. His eyes just looked pure evil.’

She was taken to Royal Preston Hospital where she suffered a collapsed lung and spent two days in intensive care.

Mrs Dell, who was doing her Christmas shopping, tried to get away after she was stabbed but slipped on her own blood and as she got up Hussain tried to stab her again in the back.

‘I thought he’s going to kill me, he’s going to stab me and I couldn’t speak, the words wouldn’t come out,’ she told police.

She sustained two stab wounds to her left forearm causing a fracture to the shaft of her left radius and damage to the tendon of her left thumb.

Police cars swarmed the streets surrounding the store following the double stabbing in December 2020 

The attacker then fled from the store, chased by store detective James Brayford, who, helped by members of the public, detained him and brought him back to the store to wait for the police.

Hussain said he bought a knife a few days before the attack but his wife had hidden it, so he took a kitchen knife from his Burnley home, which was ‘too weak’.

The defendant had a history of bipolar disorder but was taking his medication and was able to understand and to control his actions, the court heard.

Although no extremist material was found at his home, Hussain said he believed what he was doing was jihad.

In an interview with police, he said he believed he was doing ‘an honourable thing, something to be proud of’ and that he might end up a ‘martyr’ if he was shot.

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