A Jihadi knifeman who slashed a defenceless M&S worker’s neck during a vicious rampage in December 2020 has been given an indefinite hospital order for his crimes.
Munawar Hussain, 60, stabbed Samantha Worthington, who managed the Burnley town centre branch of M&S, in the neck before chasing her through the shop on December 2 2020
He then stabbed a customer in her arm, and tried to stab her in the back as she lay on the floor, only for the blade to snap as it got stuck in her handbag strap. He then fled the scene, but was caught by a security guard and members of the public before cops arrives.
Video footage from the time showed Hussain entering the store before chasing the women through aisles of products as they slip on their own blood.
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.
Munawar Hussain, 60, (pictured) stabbed two women at an M&S in Burnley in 2020
CCTv footage showed him entering the store with a large kitchen knife
Samantha Worthington (pictured) was stabbed in the neck on December 2 2020
Cops found a note written in Urdu which read: ‘O Israel, you are inflicting atrocities on Palestinians and Marks & Spencer helping you financially.’
After he was found guilty of attempted murder and wounding following a trial at Manchester Crown Court in March 2023, he later pleaded guilty to a further offence of attempted murder for attacking a male nurse at the secure unite he was being held in.
Today Hussain was handed an indefinite hospital order, which means he can only be discharged by the Secretary of State for Justice or the Mental Health Tribunal.
Prosecutor Alex Leach KC said in court: ‘Ms Worthington asked the defendant if he was alright and he said something, which she struggled to make out, and the next thing she knew she had been stabbed.
‘She felt like the defendant had punched her. She put her hand to her neck and realised she had been stabbed and ran from the shop floor away from the defendant. A number of people in the shop saw the defendant chasing her.’
Hussain then turned his attention to Janet Dell, a customer in the store. He went on to stab her in the arm. She was trying to get away but ‘slipped on her own blood’, the prosecutor continued.
During the ensuing struggle, Hussain attempted to stab Mrs Dell a second time but the blade became stuck in her handbag and snapped off.
Mr Leach said: ‘He fled the scene and was chased by James Brayford, who caught up with Mr Hussain and could see something in his hand. He stayed at arms length and shouted at others to call the police. Together with members of the public he [apprehended] the defendant.’
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
Both women were rushed to hospital for treatment. Ms Worthington was treated for a serious stab wound to her neck and a collapsed lung and was placed into intensive care for recovery.
Mrs Dell sustained two stab wounds to her arm, one which cut the bone, and was left with weakness in her thumb.
Hussain was arrested and interviewed and told police that he ‘deliberately targeted Marks and Spencer’ because they ‘funded Israel’ and he ‘intended to kill’ his victims. He also said he thought the police would ‘kill him’ because he intended to be a ‘martyr’.
Reading her victim personal statement to the court, Ms Worthington broke down as she detailed the devastating impact the attack had upon her. Ms Worthington said: ‘It changed everything about my life.
‘I always feel like something bad is going to happen and I’m panicking that somebody is going to come into my house. I live on a main road and every time I hear an emergency vehicle go past, I am reminded of the day I was attacked.’
She said she has flashbacks and nightmares from the day and was unable to work or drive for a number of months.
Although the attacker fled he was pursued by a store detective, who caught him and dragged him back to wait for the police
Hussain was arrested near the scene (pictured being led away by officers) and has been found guilty of attempted murder and wounding with intent
In a more recent statement she said that whilst she has since gone back to work, she can ‘never be able to live a carefree life’. Ms Worthington added: ‘This was something I took for granted.’
Mrs Dell also said in a statement: ‘I don’t think I will ever forget the terror from that moment.’
She detailed the extensive treatment she had received, and said she has been left struggling to do simple things like washing her hair without help.
Mrs Dell said: ‘I cannot go into Burnley town centre without my husband and I have not returned to Marks and Spencer. The attack on me is something I will remember for a long time and will have a profound impact on me and my whole family.’
Hussain was detained within a secure unit at Guild Lodge, a medium secure mental healthcare hospital in Whittingham, Preston, during which he struck up a friendship with a male nurse who spoke Hindi. They discussed the nurse’s religious background, during which Hussain urged him to read the Quran.
On June 26 last year Hussain asked to use a knife from the kitchen, but when the nurse went to retrieve the knife from him, Hussain said ‘you f***ing dirty pig’ before attempting to stab him, the court heard.
Mr Leach said: ‘A struggle ensued and the nurse attempted to retrieve the knife from Mr Hussain. He shouted for help though was able to restrain and disarm the defendant.’
Police cars swarmed the streets surrounding the store following the double stabbing in December 2020
Hussain later told the police that he believed the nurse had converted from Islam to Christianity and ‘thought it was wrong’.
The nurse said in a statement that he had suffered with nightmares which had caused sleep deprivation following the attack. He added that he struggled being on his own as he would think back to what happened.
The court heard that in a number of reports from psychiatrists they concluded that Hussain had been suffering from a schizoaffective disorder and psychosis for a number of years and there was evidence of ‘paranoid delusional belief around religion’.
Peter Wright KC, mitigating, said: ‘Nothing I say is intended to minimise the terrible actions committed by this defendant or the profound and lasting effect on the victims.
‘As to the risk he poses and the management of containing that risk, we would say it can only be met by a hospital order.’
Sentencing Hussain to a section 37 hospital order with section 41 restrictions under the Mental Health Act, Judge Nicholas Dean KC said: ‘The fact is you attacked not Marks and Spencer, but two individuals. What you did, did not harm Marks and Spencer in any meaningful way.
‘You harmed, in a serious way, people who on any basis were wholly innocent of any wrongdoing and had no connection with whatever you thought Marks and Spencer’s political views or affiliations might be.’
The judge added that his ‘religious preoccupation’ became ‘intense’ over the years and his mental disorder was the cause of his criminal behaviour.
He also awarded Mr Brayford £2,000 compensation under section 28 of the Criminal Law Act 1826, in recognition of his bravery.
Chief Superintendent Sarah Kenwright, of Counter Terrorism Policing North West (CTPNW), said: ‘These incidents are deeply disturbing and traumatising for all the victims. We have supported them and they have been at the forefront of our minds throughout the investigation and the subsequent trial.
‘No one should go to their place of work or out shopping and fear for their lives, sadly this has been a reality for three people, who have undoubtedly had their lives changed, both physically and mentally, by Hussain’s actions.
‘Our subsequent investigation, and ultimately today’s sentencing, means that Hussain will remain in a safe place for him to get the treatment he needs, and that the public are safe from the threat that he clearly posed that day.’
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