The father of a schoolboy murdered during a 20-minute samurai sword rampage has described the devastating moment he found his son fatally injured as he laid bare his family’s ‘pain and anguish’.
Daniel Anjorin, 14, was cut down as he was walking to school by drug-crazed Marcus Monzo, 37, who believed he was an assassin from a Hollywood film, leaving four others injured.
High on cannabis which ‘led to a psychotic disorder’, the Brazilian shouted ‘Does anyone believe in God’ as he attacked four strangers after ‘chopping’ Daniel to death in Hainault, East London.
Dr Ebenezer Anjorin, Daniel’s father, spoke of the grief which had ripped his family apart in a victim impact statement read at Monzo’s sentencing hearing at the Old Bailey today.
In a statement read to the court by prosecutor Tom Little KC, he said: ‘On April 30 at approximately 7am Daniel left for school. At approximately 7.15am I was informed by my eldest son that Daniel had been stabbed on the road near our house.
‘I ran outside of the house and just across the road I saw a hunched-up body by the side on the road.
‘I did not realise that it was Daniel at first but as I got closer, I recognised the school sports clothes and saw his face.
‘He was lying in a pool of blood and had a deep cut to his face running from the side of his mouth to the back of his neck. He was motionless.
‘I knew at once that he was dead, but I reached down called his name and held his head.’
Daniel Anjorin was a student at Bancroft School, which was also attended by Nottingham stabbing victim Grace O’Malley-Kumar
Marcus Monzo: The amateur musician believed he was a character from The Hunger Games
Dr Anjorin said he rang his wife to tell her what had happened and saw her collapse screaming as she saw paramedics treating her son. They were then told by the paramedic that their son’s condition was critical and he was unlikely to survive.
‘I cannot begin to describe the pain and anguish we as a family feel at the loss of Daniel,’ he said.
‘Daniel was a much-loved son and brother to two siblings. All three siblings had a close relationship with each other and there was an age gap of only four years between all three of them.’
He described Daniel as a talented student who had recently been chosen as part of a select group to visit Cambridge University to learn about the application process.
Dr Anjorin described his family’s devastation that they will never be able to see Daniel grow up when he had ‘so much potential to excel in so many areas’.
He said: ‘As a family, we had made sacrifices to ensure that Daniel and his siblings had a good education and went to good schools.
‘Daniel was very gifted academically. Daniel also enjoyed sport and played football, rugby, hockey, and cricket. He also enjoyed played the violin and piano and had reached grade six in violin and grade five in piano. He enjoyed school and had a good circle of friends.’
‘We will not see Daniel obtain his GCSEs, A levels or go to university. Daniel had so much potential to excel in so many areas, he could have been a great scientist, financier, or business founder. We will not see him get married or have children,’ he said.
‘All the normal things that parents hope for their children. All these hopes and aspirations have been cruelly snatched away from us through the wicked actions of Marcus Monzo.’
Dr Ebenezer Anjorin, Daniel’s father, spoke of the grief which had ripped his family apart in a victim impact statement read at Monzo’s sentencing hearing at the Old Bailey today
Marcus Aurelio Arduini Monzo was arrested after a 20-minute rampage in Hainault
Monzo filmed himself unwrapping the sword he later used to kill Daniel Anjorin. Also in this image is his cat, Wizard, who he strangled, skinned and de-boned because he became convinced the pet would be the architect of Armageddon
He added: ‘As parents, one of the most painful aspects of Daniel’s murder is sometimes seeing the pain of Daniel’s loss in our children’s eyes knowing that they are thinking of him and missing him.
‘This situation is something that we would not wish on anyone. It has been the worst nightmare and experience of our lives. To have to go through the pain of losing a child in such a cruel and savage way. No family should have to go through this.’
His statement ended: ‘I ask you to please consider all the consequences and the suffering that we as a family have gone through, and continue to go through because of the actions of the defendant. I believe that Marcus Monzo is a danger to society.’
The Old Bailey heard the amateur musician believed he was a character from The Hunger Games, in which contestants fight to the death on a TV show.
A jury this week found him guilty of murder, attempted murder, aggravated burglary by entering a property with intent to cause grievous bodily harm, wounding with intent and having an article with a blade.
Monzo began his rampage around 6.45am on April 30 last year using a van to mow down his first victim, Donald Iwule, who was walking to work when he was hit and catapulted into a nearby garden.
Jurors were shown CCTV of Mr Iwule screaming in agony shouting: ‘I don’t know you’ as Monzo approached on foot wielding the 60cm blade.
The Brazilian replied: ‘I don’t care, I will kill you’ as he swung towards the victim’s neck and torso before Mr Iwule managed to escape.
Monzo was eventually cornered and subdued by police armed with Tasers
Social media photos show Monzo smiling and doing a thumbs-up with a collection of medals round his neck after winning a sports contest
The defence argued Monzo – seen here in a court sketch – had a pre-existing condition which made him vulnerable to psychotic episodes prompted by his use of cannabis
Monzo was eventually cornered and subdued by police armed with Tasers
I came face to face with Monzo – he spared me
Henry Polania came face to face with Monzo in his bedroom after the killer broke into his home.
He believes Monzo only spared their lives because his terrified four-year-old daughter began to cry.
Speaking about the moment he was confronted with the drug-crazed killer, Mr Polania told Sky News: ‘He grabbed the sword with both of his hands and went backwards with such force and tried to cut the head off my wife.
‘I was like I can’t let this happen. In my mind, I was like, I can’t let this happen. So I just tried to stop him.
‘I pulled my hands towards the blade and stop him. I tried to push the blade, but I couldn’t because it was too quick. How can I explain? It was like, that’s it.
‘I looked at my hand and it was all open. You could see my bones. I was bleeding, at the moment I thought oh my God, this is not a dream, this is real life. He’s going to kill us.’
Speaking to the BBC, he continued: ‘My little one started crying after she woke up, ‘Mama, Papa!’ I just started crying.
‘And then Monzo done two steps back because he wasn’t expecting the little one in the room.
‘And he just pointed the katana towards my little one’s face and then to Carolina and then to me.
‘And he said: ‘I’m just going to let you live, because of your little one.’ And he left.’
Monzo then encountered schoolboy Daniel.
Mr Little, KC, previously told the court: ‘He was simply walking to school, minding his own business, looking forward to the day ahead. His life was snuffed out in an instant. In fact, most accurately, he was slain by the defendant.’
Monzo was said to have ‘moved quickly like a predator behind Daniel. He lifted the sword above his head, swung it downwards towards Daniel’s head and neck area. Daniel instantly fell to the ground.’
The attack was described as a ‘near decapitation’.
In mobile phone footage a woman can be heard saying: ‘F***, he just killed that boy, he just killed him right outside my house.’
A female police officer, Yasim Mechem-Whitfield, pursued Monzo through a series of alleyways before he launched a ‘ferocious attack’, striking her three times.
He then charged into a nearby house and attacked a couple in their bedroom, but their lives were spared when their four-year-old daughter woke up and started crying.
Monzo’s rampage only ended when he was surrounded by officers in a garage area and tasered.
Another officer who was injured as he ran to confront Monzo said today that there was ‘no time for fear’ because lives were on the line.
Before Mr Campbell’s arrival on the morning of April 30 last year, Monzo had already repeatedly struck Pc Mechem-Whitfield with a samurai sword and was still on the loose.
Inspector Moloy Campbell – who was in court to see Monzo sentenced said in an interview ahead of the hearing: ‘As we were heading to the incident my sergeant was driving and I was in the operator seat.
‘As we heard that transmission ‘police officer stabbed, police officer stabbed’ I turned to him and said: ‘Just get us there, don’t speed up, don’t let red mist get to you. We need to get there and get control of this incident’.’
He added: ‘There was no time for fear. That is not a reflection of bravery of me or anyone else, it’s a fact, there was no time for that.
‘There is a job to be done and there was an objective that needed to be met and that was, as I say, the preservation of life.’
Mr Little said it was a ‘miracle’ that more people were not killed that day.
Chief Superintendent Stuart Bell, of the Met Police, said he was ‘incredibly proud’ of the officers’ response.
Inspector Campbell, who fought Monzo face to face, today said he did not see himself as a hero after receiving a wound to his hand as he battled to disarm him
A female police officer, Yasim Mechem-Whitfield, pursued Monzo through a series of alleyways before he launched a ‘ferocious attack’, striking her three times
The killer’s sword got so close to slashing Inspector Moloy Campbell’s chest that he cut off part of his body-word camera after he blocked the katana with his police-issue baton
The footage was shown to jurors at The Old Bailey on Thursday
‘The scale and severity of the attack was intense and quite widespread and throughout the entire incident our officers responded with courage, placing their own safety second, trying to prevent harm to others first, showing great courage and bravery and teamwork to eventually detain Monzo.’
Speaking ahead of Monzo’s sentencing on Friday, Mr Bell paid tribute to the schoolboy who lost his life.
He said: ‘Daniel was universally described as a talented, gentle young man with great potential with a life ahead of him who was loved by so many.
‘His untimely death is a tragedy and words do not come close to describing how tragic, how random the events which befell Daniel were.
‘His family have been nothing but dignified, resilient and behaved with the most incredible courage and we are frankly in awe of them.
‘All we could do was try to bring some form of justice to Daniel and the family and now give them the space to move on and grieve.’
