Met chief defends police actions in Golders Green knife attack after Green Party criticism

Metropolitan Police Commissioner Sir Mark Rowley has defended how officers subdued the suspect in the Golders Green attack, after Green Party leader Zack Polanski shared a post condemning their actions. Two officers Tasered and repeatedly kicked the suspect in the head while trying to prise a knife from his hand after he had stabbed two Jewish men in the north London neighbourhood. Polanski reposted a post on X, which said: "Essentially his officers were repeatedly and violently kicking a mentally ill man in the head when he was already incapacitated by Taser." Sir Mark wrote a letter to Polanski that he was "disappointed" the politician had amplified "inaccurate and misinformed commentary". The Met chief earlier said that the officers had not been armed and feared the suspect had been carrying an explosive device. Even after being Tasered, he "refused to show his hands, was violent and continued to pose a clear threat", the force said. The Met also released footage from the officers' body-worn cameras, in which they can be heard shouting repeatedly for the suspect to "get down on the ground" before he is Tasered, and then "drop the knife". It came after video shared on social media appeared to show the moment of the arrest, in which the officers can be seen kicking the man in the head several times in the struggle to wrest the knife from him. A Green Party spokesperson told the BBC: "Zack has seen the video like everyone else - and doesn't know the full picture and knows it was a very difficult situation for the authorities - but we do need to understand more about the response." Sir Mark said the author of the post could have "direct experience from the scene" but suspected "the more likely scenario is that they [were] another armchair critic". "Those officers are nothing short of extraordinary," he wrote. "They were on the scene within a few minutes, and their actions undoubtedly prevented further injury and saved lives." Sir Mark said that "apprehending violent and dangerous criminals is a full contact and messy task which may appear shocking to observers with little experience of policing in the real world". "Officers need to know that when they act to protect Londoners decisively, they will be supported." He continued that, against the current backdrop, the right approach was not to inflame tensions further by "amplifying more 'us and them rhetoric'". Dame Louise Ellman, joint chair of the Board of Deputies and a former Labour MP, told BBC Newsnight that Sir Mark's comments were "highly unusual", but the Green Party leader had shown "gross misjudgement" with social media activity. "I think that he has found an area that seems to give him popularity, at least for the short term, and I think he should be very, very careful in what he's peddling," she added. The Welsh Green Party leader Anthony Slaughter also disagreed with Polanski's decision to repost the comment, telling LBC it seemed "inappropriate". Green Party deputy leader Rachel Millward told BBC Question Time that the emergency services were brave, well-trained and did a brilliant job. Liberal Democrats London spokesperson Luke Taylor MP also criticised Polanski, describing the reposting as "utterly disgraceful". "That ludicrous response and his comments on 'perception of fear' in the Jewish community tells us a lot about the Green Party's values," he said. Essa Suleiman, 45, remains in police custody having been arrested on the suspicion of attempting to murder Shloime Rand, 34, and Moshe Shine, 76, in Golders Green on Wednesday morning. Sir Mark said later the same day that the suspect had a history of serious violence and mental health issues, and was believed to be involved in a separate incident in south-east London on Tuesday.