Man threatening Jews with knife arrested in north London

An armed man alleged to have been threatening Jews with a meat cleaver and large knife in Stamford Hill has been arrested.

Initial reports of the Tuesday evening incident from volunteer security group Shomrim say the man tried to gain entry to a kosher shop on Upper Clapton Road but was thwarted when staff locked the door.

He was then reported to have entered another Jewish shop, asking for the owner, saying: “Where is the boss? I will kill him.” Upon leaving, he is reported to have shouted at two Jewish girls aged eight and 14 years, saying: “You Jews run away from here before I kill you.”

Shomrim volunteers said they followed the man to a block of flats on Rossington Street where armed police arrested him on suspicion of affray and possession of an offensive weapon.

CCTV images of the white man wearing a white hooded top have since appeared on social media. Police confirmed that they had arrested a 61-year old man.

Shomrim supervisor Chaim Hochauser said his organisation “responded to reports of a male making threats and brandishing a meat cleaver and a large knife in Hackney… We contained the area where the suspect had fled, and liaised with local and armed Police who cordoned off the area… The suspect was subsequently arrested”.

A spokesman for Campaign Against Antisemitism said: “Violent anti-Semitic crime continues to rise at an alarming rate and will continue to do so until anti-Semitic incitement is taken seriously by the authorities before it translates into violence. It is inexcusable that in Britain in 2017.”