Man wielding knife arrested after allegedly threatening pedestrians in Golders Green

A man wielding a knife and shouting “you are not real Jews” has been arrested close to Kay’s kosher delicatessen in Hamilton Road, Golders Green.

The man began shouting at customers outside the shop shortly after 1pm with claims that he demanded to know where people stood on the Israel-Gaza conflict. As he waved the knife around, the shopkeeper’s 18-year-old son bravely repelled the attack using a shopping trolley and krav maga skills he’s learnt at school.

A group of four Shomrim volunteers were quickly on the scene, following the man as he went into his home nearby.  As he left the building having changed clothes, they continued to follow him and pointed him out to the first Met officers on the scene, before helping to detain him.

It is understood that no-one was hurt in the attack and the CST  tweeted its thanks to the police.

In a statement, the Metropolitan Police said that a 34-year-old man had been arrested and taken into custody “on suspicion of possession of an offensive weapon, criminal damage and racially-aggravated affray”.

Inspector Scott Barden-Marshall, from the local policing team in north-west London, said: “I know this incident will cause concern in the community. Officers responded quickly and made an arrest within 10 minutes. An investigation is now under way.”

The Met said the incident was not being treated as terror-related.