Camden New Journal - News: Shocked teens see librarian slashed as she serves man

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Camden New Journal - by CHARLOTTE CHAMBERS
Published: 13 March 2008

Shocked teens see librarian slashed as she serves man

A LIBRARIAN was stabbed in a horrific afternoon attack at Swiss Cottage library yesterday (Wednesday).
Witnesses described seeing a man argue with the library worker, thought to be a woman in her 40s, before he pulled out what looked like a penknife and slashed at her stomach. The library was closed after the incident at around 2.30pm, and emergency notices (pictured left) were posted up on the front door.
Onlooker Colleen Madden, 15, had been studying in the building when the stabbing happened.
She said: “A man came into the library and started harassing her. She said to him ‘You don’t have a library card’ and he got a knife out and stabbed her.”
Her friend Sabba Mirza, 17, said: “I was just working on the computer and I heard a scream and then I saw him arguing.
“It looked like a penknife.”
The teenagers said they often saw the librarian when they visited the Avenue Road building after school, and described her as “very friendly”.
Sabba said: “I was shocked. She’s a nice lady, very friendly when I need help with the internet.”
A police spokesman said: “Upon police arrival it was established that a female member of staff at the library had been attacked by a suspect.
“Ambulance services attended and the victim was taken to a north-west London hospital, where her injuries are not deemed to be life threatening.”
A Camden Council spokesman said: “We are very concerned for all staff affected by the incident and we will be supporting them through this.”

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