Hero father 'shielded his wife and four-year-old daughter from sword-wielding ... trends now
A heroic father shielded his wife and four-year-old daughter from a sword-wielding killer when he burst into their bedroom as they slept, his sister has revealed.
Henry De Los Rios Polania, 35, remains in hospital having suffered injuries when a knifeman broke into his family home and was 'traumatised' by his horrific ordeal, Jessica De Los Rios, 31, said.
Marcus Arduini Monzo, 36, appeared in court yesterday accused of being behind a 22-minute rampage that left schoolboy Daniel Anjorin dead and four others seriously wounded – including a policewoman who nearly lost a hand.
But IT engineer Mr De Los Rios, from Hainault in North-East London, was able to protect his daughter and partner from the attacker, she added.
'They were just literally sleeping, opened their eyes to see a man with a big machete sword,' she said. 'He felt helpless in the moment but to us he is our hero. It could have been extremely worse.'
Marcus Aurelio Arduini Monzo, a Spanish and Brazilian national, appeared in court today charged with murder
Floral tributes at the scene of the sword attack in Laing close in Hainault
Daniel Anjorin, the 14-year-old boy killed by a man who went on a rampage wielding a sword
Ms De Los Rios said her brother sustained a deep wound to his hand and the family were so psychologically damaged that they were unlikely to want to return to the house.
Flanked by three burly male dock officers and one female, Monzo, a dual Spanish-Brazilian national, wore a prison-issue grey tracksuit and held his left hand over his chest for the entire seven-minute hearing at Westminster Magistrates' Court.
When asked to confirm his name, he responded very slowly: 'My full name? As of my recollection it is Marcus Aurielo Audini.'
David Burns, prosecuting, said Monzo allegedly drove a van at speed at Donato Iwule, who was walking on the street, before leaving the vehicle and slashing him around the neck, leaving an injury that required
