A motorist acquitted of trying to kill a policeman with a machete had previously been jailed for a ‘strikingly similar’ attack, it can now be revealed.
Muhammad Rodwan, 56, launched a ferocious assault on PC Stuart Outten, 29, hacking at him with a 2ft-long rusty blade last August after the officer stopped his passing van because it was not insured.
Shocking footage from the officer’s body-worn camera shows him fighting for his life after Rodwan leapt on him, stabbing him repeatedly and fracturing his skull.
Muhammad Rodwan (left), fractured the skull of PC Stuart Outten (shown lying on the ground injured, right) when he pulled him over for driving without insurance
Pictured: The machete used by Rodwan to fracture PC Stuart Outten’s skull during a sustained assault in east London
The PC, later nicknamed Britain’s bravest policeman, only managed to survive by firing his Taser twice as he fell to the ground with Rodwan coming ‘in for the kill’, jurors were told.
Yesterday, there was fury as Rodwan was cleared of attempted murder and only convicted of wounding after it emerged that jurors were not told of his violent past.
It can now be revealed that he is a convicted rapist who has previously been jailed for carrying out an unprovoked machete attack on two other men.
Video captured Rodwan swinging the blade at PC Stuart Outten’s head, fracturing his skull and leaving him with six severe head wounds
PC Outten is shown struggling to his feet (left) after firing off his Taser and incapacitating his attacker Rodwan (right)
Rodwan is pictured arguing with officers moments before he reaches into his van and pulls out a machete
The handyman – who was previously known as Rodney Reid and lived in his van – was jailed for nine years in 1997 for wounding two men in his flat in east London.
Both victims needed surgery following the attack in 1996, with one having almost had his hand chopped off.
In addition, Rodwan had previously been jailed for three years for rape in 1983.
The police officer is seen heroically firing off his Taser as Rodwan swings the machete during the violent struggle
But jurors at the Old Bailey were not told about what prosecutor Jonathan Rees QC described as the ‘strikingly similar’ machete attack, which he said demonstrated Rodwan’s propensity for gratuitous violence.
Mrs Justice Carr ruled his past offending was inadmissible due to the passage of time, despite jurors asking if he had previous convictions.
Yesterday, Rodwan was convicted of a lesser offence of wounding with intent to cause grievous bodily harm.
PC Outten suffered six severe head wounds (left, and right, after recovery) and a court heard he could have died had he not bravely fired off his Taser in a bid to disarm Rodwan
Bleeding heavily from deep gashes to the head, broken fingers and a wound to the arm, PC Outten shouted at a passerby to pass his radio so he could call for help
Friends and relatives of PC Outten wept in the public gallery as jurors went on to clear Rodwan of possessing an offensive weapon after he claimed he had a machete for gardening jobs.
The verdict, which comes at a time of rising attacks on police, sparked fury and disbelief among officers yesterday.
Metropolitan Police Federation chairman Ken Marsh said: ‘This incident was an attempted murder. Had PC Outten not utilised the Taser when he did… it would have been fatal. My colleagues are facing these kinds of incidents on a daily basis. I am saddened by the verdict.’
Shown left are the injuries suffered by PC Outten, while a photograph from inside Rodwan’s van shows dreadlocks lying on the floor
PC Outten, who is desperate to get back on patrol, said he bore no hatred towards his assailant, despite his injuries. In an interview before the verdict, he said: ‘He did what he did, he’s now paying the price for it.’
PC Outten was on duty on August 7 last year in Leyton, east London, when a spot check revealed a passing van did not have insurance.
His colleague’s body camera also recorded the dramatic scenes that followed.
The dramatic scene where PC Outten was knifed in Leyton, London, and fellow officers pin down the suspect and then arrest him on suspicion of grievous bodily harm
The officer’s blood can be seen smothered across the road as the police pin down his attacker
Muhammed Rodwan, 56, was originally charged with attempted murder at the Thames Magistrates’ Court (artist’s impression, left, and right)
PC Outten recalled: ‘Once he’s started hitting me in the head with the machete, then I realised it was escalating very quickly and I was having to now fight for my life. I recall specifically as I was falling to the floor… this might be it.’
Rodwan told police: ‘My life is worth more than his life.’
There has been a rise in attacks on officers in the capital, with 16 recorded every day. Rodwan will be sentenced today.
Britain’s hardest cop: ‘When he hit me with the machete, I knew I was fighting for my life’
PC Outten is pictured recovering in hospital (left), while another image shows defensive wounds to his arm (right)
PC Outten said he counted himself ‘very lucky’ to survive, saying ‘thankfully’ his head was hard enough to withstand the onslaught.
He said: ‘On that night I was just doing my job, doing what I’m trained to do, but more importantly making sure I didn’t die, because that was a distinct possibility had the attack carried on.
‘Once he’s started hitting me in the head with the machete, then I realised it was escalating very quickly and I was having to now fight for my life.
‘I recall specifically as I was falling to the floor, having fired the first shot and aiming for the second (thinking) that if this doesn’t work, this might be it.
‘But luckily the Taser worked. It did its job. He fell incapacitated next to me and I was able to use it to keep him on the floor and to keep myself alive.’
Of his attacker, he said: ‘It feels good to see the system going through the paces, but personal feelings for him? I don’t have any.
‘There’s no hatred. He did what he did, he’s now paying the price for it.
‘I don’t feel the attack was personal. He was attacking an officer in uniform and I responded as such.’
Dismissing the ‘hardest cop’ title he was given by the tabloid press, PC Outten said: ‘Luckily I have the size and build that I can take a couple of machete blows to the head – apparently – and I can act afterwards.’