A man has denied attempting to murder two Jewish men during a knife rampage in Golders Green.

Essa Suleiman is accused of stabbing Shloime Rand and Moshe Shine during an attack in north London on 29 April.

He is also accused of attempting to murder his friend Ishmail Hussein at his flat in Southwark just hours before the Golders Green incident, which he denies.

He appeared at the Old Bailey via CVP link on Friday and pleaded not guilty to all charges against him.

It is alleged Suleiman travelled from an address in south-east London to Mr Hussein’s home and attempted to stab him when he opened the door.

Prosecutors said he then travelled by public transport to Golders Green, where he unleashed a second knife attack.

He is accused of first stabbing Mr Rand, who suffered a punctured lung, and then stabbing Mr Shine, who sustained injuries to the neck.

Deanna Heer KC told the earlier hearing that both victims were “obviously members of the orthodox Jewish community by the way they were dressed at the time”.

Mr Rand, 34, had been studying at a synagogue on Highfield Avenue when he was allegedly attacked by the defendant, who is accused of stabbing him once in the chest.

Suleiman is then accused of attacking Mr Shine, 76, who was said to have sustained a number of stab wounds which caused him to be taken to hospital.

Both were rushed to hospital for treatment, and Mr Rand previously told the BBC it was a “miracle” he survived.

The court was told the incident came to an end when another member of the public intervened to try to disarm the defendant and take the knife from him. Emergency services then arrived.

The incident was declared a terrorist attack by Counter Terrorism Police (CTP), who led the investigation.Suleiman was born in Somalia and came to the UK legally as a child in the 1990s.

Suleiman’s home address at the time of the attacks cannot be published for legal reasons. It is in southeast London.

Suleiman has also been charged with one count of possessing a bladed article in a public place, which he also denied.

A trial date has been set for 1 March 2027.