By James Simons-
A mentally ill man has been sentenced to hospital order for attempted murder of social worker.
Demented Sulai Bukhari approached the 61-year-old social worker while he was attempting to carry out a check on the welfare of children at an address on Noel Park Road. The victim had called police to assist him in carrying out the check at 8pm on 6th August 2021, who then entered the property. The social worker was standing outside the property alone when he was approached.
Sulai Bukhari, 35, stabbed the Haringey council social worker, then 61, eight times, while the practitioner was conducting a welfare check on children at a house in Wood Green, north London, in August 2021.
The officers had forced entry to the house to help the social worker carry out the welfare check after they were refused access.
Bukhari, who was hiding around the corner from the property, then stabbed the social worker with two Swiss Army knives, leaving him with wounds to his chest, abdomen, shoulder and arms.
He also attacked the two officers after they came to help the social worker, whom the Metropolitan Police said had been left with ongoing pain and significant psychological effects from the attack.
“It is only thanks to sheer luck that the main victim of this incident was not more seriously injured,” said Detective Constable Elliott Hughes, from the North Area Command. “The long lasting impact on him has been substantial and he now suffers from ongoing pain due to the injuries as well as the significant psychological effect of such an incident.
“We are reminded with this case of the constant danger some public sector workers face simply by doing their job. On a daily basis they put themselves in harm’s way to protect the public.”
Following the attack, Haringey council conducted a review of risk assessment procedures and its lone working policy, while also bringing in a psychotherapist to support staff and giving them access to the Thinking Space programme to support mental wellbeing, run by Tavistock and Portman NHS Foundation Trust.
Bukhari was convicted of one count of attempted murder and two of attempting to cause grievous bodily harm with intent.
A judge at the Old Bailey yesterday sentenced him to a hospital order under section 37 of the MHA, which applies when a person who has been convicted of an imprisonable offence – besides murder – is found to have a mental disorder of a nature or degree that warrants hospital treatment and the court deems this the most appropriate punishment.
He was also placed under a restriction order, under section 41 of the MHA, limiting the circumstances in which he would be released from the hospital order, on the grounds of the risk he posed to the public.