He asked to see the manager - then launched a terrifying knife attack in Marks & Spencer

A knifeman who tried to kill two women in a Marks and Spencer store because he believed the retailer funded Israel in its “persecution” of Palestine, has been handed a hospital order.

Munawar Hussain, 60, had approached a member of staff and asked to speak to the manager at the store in Burnley town centre in December 2020. He then stabbed her in the neck with a kitchen knife before chasing her through the shop floor.

Hussain then turned his attention onto a customer stabbing her to the arm and tried to land a blow in her back as she lay on the floor but the blade of his knife snapped from the handle after it became stuck in her handbag strap.

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He fled from the scene but was quickly apprehended by a courageous security guard and members of the public before the police arrived. Following his arrest, a note, written in Urdu, was discovered on him which read: “O Israel, you are inflicting atrocities on Palestinians and Marks & Spencer helping you financially.”

He was found guilty following a trial of attempted murder and wounding, and later pleaded guilty to a further offence of attempted murder after attacking a male nurse in the secure unit he was detained in.

Today, September 2, he was handed a hospital order which means he can only be discharged by the Secretary of State for Justice or the Mental Health Tribunal.

Opening the case, prosecutor Alex Leach KC said that on the morning of December 2 2020, Hussain left his house on Murray Street in Burnley and went directly to Marks and Spencer.

At 9.15am he was seen entering the store and spoke to an employee at the entrance. She was unable to tell what he was saying