A knifeman hurled homophobic abuse at two men before stabbing one of them with a machete after a row at a supermarket checkout flared into violence.
The argument spilled out into the street outside Sainsbury’s, near Canada Water Tube station, when the suspect pulled out a foot-long blade, stabbing one of the men in the thigh.
Police are treating the incident, shortly after 3pm yesterday in Surrey Quays Road, as a hate crime and appealed for witnesses who saw the knifeman flee on a motorbike.
Officers today said the two men were both shopping and were not known to one another.
Dr Andrew Davidson described hearing the argument just before the stabbing. He said: “Two guys were shouting at a third man, something about how he’d called them faggots.
“This man kept at them, and they were clearly enraged at the homophobia, and they started tussling. Suddenly a woman screamed that the man has a knife, and I see it.
“It’s no kitchen knife, absolutely a weapon… and one of the guys was stabbed in the thigh. I went over and offered what limited first aid you can do outside a Sainsbury’s with napkins.”
A security guard at the supermarket said: “They went outside and were still shouting but I couldn’t hear what they were saying. It was like they were wrestling on the floor then the white man pulled out a knife.
“It was a big knife as long as my arm. He slashed him in the leg and then ran off. The man then came into the store for help, and he was bleeding as he walked in. We got a stool for him and used some tissues to try and stop the bleeding. He looked okay, he was crying and was in shock.”
A friend of the victim told the Standard he was “fine but shaken up” after the ordeal. Michael Khimina, 27, who works at the Canada Water cafe, said: “I can’t believe something like this happens in 2019. It is scary because it was broad daylight and it is a very busy area around here, anyone could have got caught up in it and been seriously hurt.”
The latest attack comes a month after Melania Geymonat, 28, and her girlfriend Chris, 29, were attacked by teenagers on a night bus in Camden after allegedly refusing to kiss for their entertainment.
A Scotland Yard spokesman said a man in his twenties had been taken to hospital and was in a stable condition with non-life-threatening injuries.
The spokesman added: “The suspect made homophobic comments and, for this reason, the incident is being treated as a hate crime.”
Sainsbury’s said: “An incident took place outside our Canada Water local store yesterday and we’re supporting the police with their investigation.”
A 26-year-old man suffered potentially life-changing injuries after being stabbed in Mitcham shortly before midnight last night. A second man was treated for stab wounds.
