Stamford Hill attack suspect ‘unfit to enter plea’

A teenage suspect accused of assaulting two strictly-Orthodox shop owners on a Stamford Hill street has been deemed unfit to enter a plea because of his ill mental health.

Malachi Thorpe, 18, who allegedly attacked Israel Grossman and Erwin Ginsberg as they were closing their shop, is suffering from a psychotic illness, his lawyer said.

He faces two charges of racially or religiously aggravated assault occasioning actual bodily harm and one of possessing an offensive weapon following.

Security camera footage of the incident on 27 January, the eve of Holocaust Memorial Day, showed a hooded man throwing repeated punches and knocking one of them to the ground.

Grossman and Ginsberg ended up being treated in hospital for a variety of injuries including a broken nose, fractured wrist and severe bruising.

Thorpe is currently in custody awaiting a transfer to Chase Farm hospital for medical treatment.

At a hearing last week his lawyer David Lyons said there was no dispute that Thorpe hit the two men, but asked the court to consider whether the racially motivated element of his charge was applicable, the Campaign Against Antisemitism said.

A case management hearing will be held in June where, following a doctor’s assessment, Thorpe might be able to enter a plea.