Police officer stabbed in head after machete attack in Leyton to make a recovery

• Video report by ITV News Correspondent Martha Fairlie

A police officer stabbed in the head and body during a "sudden and brutal attack" is expected to make a full recovery, a Metropolitan Police superintendent has said

Scotland Yard confirmed an officer was attacked around midnight on Thursday after stopping a van with no insurance at a junction of Coopers Lane and Leyton High Road in Leyton, east London.

The vehicle's driver, aged in his 50s, failed to stop and then got out of the van and injured the officer.

The policeman managed to use his Taser on the suspect, despite having been stabbed, with the alleged attacker then arrested by another police officer.

The injured officer, aged in his 30s, was taken to hospital by ambulance.

Providing an update on Thursday morning, Detective Chief Superintendent Richard Tucker said: "The officer is currently in the Royal London (hospital), I went to see him in the early hours of this morning.

"He is fine. He is seriously injured but he will make a recovery. He is there with his family and loved ones. He's having an operation at 10 o'clock, and that's for an operation to a defensive wound on his hand.

"He's still very shaken up and so are his colleagues."

Asked if the attack was a symptom of people having "less fear of the police", Mr Tucker, who has been at Scotland Yard for 33 years, said: "I'll have to go and reflect on that.

"I've been in the police a long time, there is certainly a sense of a lack of respect not just for the police but for authority, whether that's people who work in a shop, drive a bus, ambulance staff."

He added: "We want people to work for the police and this is a call for special people to come and join the police, who are courageous and brave and willing to go out and actually confront these types of people."

Shahbaz Choudhry, who lives nearby to where the attack took place, told ITV News: "He was in the middle of the road and the guy came from the back and stabbed him on the hand, because he had his hand out.

Describing the machete, he said the weapon was "like a sword".

Muhammad Faisal and his family were woken by the noise outside their flat during the attack.

He said: "We saw more than 10 to 15 police cars and an ambulance. The scene was shocking.

"We saw someone lying on the road. Next to him was his police uniform.

"They were providing him assistance to his head. We didn't see the wound, but we saw a lot of blood."

Mr Faisal added that he saw a police officer holding the machete, which he said was "around a foot long".

Another witness to the aftermath of the attack, who does not want to be named, said he was woken by bangs and shouting outside of his flat.

"There was someone screaming on the floor," he said. "There was a police officer lying on the road and police running around."

Boris Johnson offered his "sympathies" to the police officer injured in the attack in Leyton.

He said: "What this underscores for me is the bravery of our police, people who actually go towards danger to keep us safer."

Mr Johnson added: "Also what it shows to me is the vital importance of investing in policing, that's why we're putting another 20,000 officers out on the street, and giving officers the legal powers and support that they need to tackle knife crime and other violent crime."

Asked what his government is going to do to tackle knife crime, the Prime Minister said: "I think you've got to give officers the confidence ... that when they ask somebody coming towards them who may be carrying a knife, which is a danger to them and to everybody around them, they have to have the power, the confidence, do that emotionally challenging thing and do stop and search.

"We did a huge amount of that 10 years ago, we already got knife crime and the murder rate down, I think that's got to be part of the solution now, as well as having tough sentencing for those who carry knives."

Mayor of London Sadiq Khan tweeted his support for the injured police officer.

He said: "This sickening attack on a serving police officer is utterly appalling.

"The men and women who serve in our police force in London are the best in the world, and their courage and dedication is inspiring. I'm in contact with senior Met officers, and an arrest has been made."

Footage from Wednesday night shows a large police presence on the usually busy road, which was cordoned off while an investigation took place.

Police have said there is nothing to suggest the incident is terrorism related.

North East Command Unit's inspector Julia James described the assault as a "sudden and brutal attack".

She added: "What began as a routine vehicle stop has transformed very quickly and unexpectedly into an unprovoked attack with a weapon.

"Our thoughts are with the injured officer and his family and we wish him a full recovery.

"I would like to commend his bravery and resilience especially as he managed to draw a Taser, despite being repeatedly stabbed, to prevent the suspect harming anyone else and to protect himself from further injury," she said.

"This incident highlights the very real risk that police officers can be confronted with on a daily basis and the courage and professionalism officers demonstrate when doing their job.

Police have asked anyone who witnessed the incident to call 101 or Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111 and quote reference CAD3/8August.