Leytonstone Tube attack victim tells of horrifying ordeal – as it is revealed ISIS inspired attacker had Muslim exorcisms
Neymar also starts after suggestions he would be rested for trip to Celtic in Champions League
A MAN who had his throat "sawn" open by an ISIS-inspired attacker at Leytonstone tube station has gruesomely described how his attacker's knife broke on his neck.
It comes as it emerged today Muhiddin Mire, 30, had undergone Muslim "exorcisms" prior to carrying out his bloody rampage last year.
Today Somali Mire was sentenced to life in prison for the attack, and is set to serve a minimum of eight and a half years before being considered for parole.
He will start his sentence at Broadmoor secure hospital.
Mire, 30, launched a crazed attack on 56-year-old Lyle Zimmerman with a bread knife and threatened four others in the ticket hall at Leytonstone Underground station in east London.
One onlooker shouted at him during the attack, "You ain't no Muslim, bruv", after Mire declared he was going to "spill blood" for his "Syrian brothers".
Mr Zimmerman explained: "My attacker had a bread knife, which actually broke on my neck. Had he had a handgun or an automatic weapon this would have been a much, much larger tragedy.
"I'm very unlucky to have been the random target of this attack but I feel extremely lucky to have had the attack occur in a country like the UK with strong gun control laws."
He explained in the statement, released via the Met Police, that he was saved by passersby - including an off-duty GP - who distracted Mire and helped stem the blood pouring from his wounds.
Today Mire was sentenced at the Old Bailey after being found guilty of attempted murder in June.
Sentencing him Judge Nicholas Hilliard QC said that while he accepted Mire was suffering from paranoid schizophrenia at the time of the offence, he was also of the opinion he had been motivated by events in Syria.
He said: "In other words, because Muslims were being bombed in Syria, he was going to attack civilians here.
"That was designed to intimidate a section of the public, and it was to advance an extreme cause."
Judge Hilliard added that Mire's "brazen" actions were carried out in order to advance a "religious and extremist cause".
He added: "This was an attempt to to kill an innocent member of the public for ideological reasons by cutting his throat in plain sight for maximum impact."
Mire - flanked by several dock officers and wearing a blue tracksuit top - stared ahead as he was sentenced.
The court had heard how on December 5 last year, the 30-year-old targeted strangers at random as they travelled on the same train from Stratford back to Leytonstone, where the defendant lived alone on benefits.
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Mire had followed Zimmerman off the train and produced a black-handled knife with a serrated edge from his pocket.
As Mr Zimmerman approached the barriers, Mire grabbed him from behind and swung him around and on to the floor.
Mire then kicked him repeatedly around the head and body as a woman nearby called for him to stop.
As Mr Zimmerman lay defenceless on the ground, Mire crouched down and began to "saw" at his neck with the serrated blade in front of shocked passengers.
Judge Hilliard publicly commended Mire's four other victims, the doctor who helped Mr Zimmerman and the first police officer on the scene, for their "courage and presence of mind".
A junior doctor on his way home rushed to help stem the blood flowing from Mr Zimmerman's wounds as Mire went up to street level.
He had suffered three large lacerations to his neck - exposing his trachea.
Mire also slashed the neck of dad-of-one David Pethers who was on his way to his work's Christmas party when he intervened in the attack.
While testifying at the trial, Zimmerman said he felt his attacker was “a crazy person, a mentally ill person.”
In a statement read during a pre-sentence hearing, the victim said he was "quite lucky" to have survived.
The crazed attacker was finally stopped when police arrived with Tasers.
When detained, Mire told officers "Why don't you finish me off? You know that's what we do."
The prosecutor submitted this was a reference to so-called Islamic State jihadists slitting the throats of their victims.
He shouted “Allahu Akbar” as he lay on the floor.
During the trial it emerged Mire was suffering from paranoid schizophrenia at the time of the bloody rampage.
The ex-Uber cab driver quit his job because of his paranoid delusions.
He did complain to his GP about his fears that he was being persecuted for his religion and stalked by MI5 and MI6.
He also believed that Tony Blair was his guardian angel.
He also thought he was possessed by evil spirits and underwent a number of "exorcisms" by imams.
He was given anti-psychotic medication, but when he was referred to a mental health team Mire failed to attend the appointment.
It was scheduled at Thorpe Coombe Hospital just four days before he knifed five people at Leytonstone Underground.
Dr Shaun Bhattacherjee, a consultant forensic psychiatrist who treated Mire at Broadmoor Hospital said he poses “a very significant risk” to the wider public - but should not be jailed.
Instead, Mr Bhattacherjee said the Leytonstone attacker should be detained in a “high security” hospital unit.
Commuter David Pethers who bravely tried to stop the knifeman denies he is a hero
Dad-of-one David Pethers, 33, was slashed in the throat by Mire during the rampage.
Today he insisted he could have done more to stop the horrific attack as he told of his regrets in the aftermath of the ordeal.
Speaking to Piers Morgan and Susanna Reid on Good Morning Britain he said: "Having him being sentenced today is bringing it all back.
"I don't think I'm a hero at all.
"Anyone could have done it.
"In my mind I could have done more. I know it sounds silly but looking at the footage and going over it in my mind, I could have taken him down before."
When played clips of the attack filmed by a bystander, Mr Pethers said: "I can't really watch it.
"It has affected me quite a lot. I didn't realise that until I have had to talk about it now.
"I get hot and sweaty - I don't know how else to describe it."
Mr Pethers was on his way to a Christmas party when he heard a commotion as he entered Leytonstone station.
"That's when I saw all the blood, he said."
"Then I saw the assailant going for someone.
"I started shouting to get his attention and it went from there.
"He turned to face me and we exchanged words but I can't remember what was said.
"We had a running battle.
"I swung at him - he swung at me."
During his trial, Prosecutor Jonathan Rees QC told jurors his mental health problems were not a defence.
He claimed Mire had shown interest in ISIS and Islamic extremism before his mental “relapse”, when he decided to quit his job as a taxi driver.
Rees described Mire's use of the knife on Mr Zimmerman's throat as "the act of an executioner", adding: "It is no coincidence that his actions mirrored those of ISIS fighters who can be seen dispatching their prisoners by cutting their throats as they lay face down on the ground."
The Old Bailey was told Mire watched his first ISIS video three years before his attack.
After his arrest, Mire told cops he had committed the crime for revenge following the British government’s decision to carry out air strikes against Syria.
Mire was convicted after brave passengers captured horrifying footage of the 30-year-old's frenzied attack on December 5.
Mobile phone footage showed knife-wielding Mire chillingly march towards victims - swiping his blade at random strangers.
Mr Rees told jurors it was “remarkably brave” to carry on filming until police arrived with Tasers.
Mire, of Leytonstone, east London, admitted wounding with intent and four counts of attempted wounding but denied the attempted murder of Lyle Zimmerman.
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