When I challenged knife killer I knew it could be the last thing I ever did

PoB award for cops who tackled sword maniac

- CECILIA ADAMOU

THREE police officers who tackled a drug-fuelled killer wielding a samurai-style sword are being recognised as heroes with a Pride of Britain award.

Marcus Arduini Monzo had already killed an innocent teenager and seriously injured an officer when Inspector Moloy Campbell put his life at risk and stopped the maniac.

Recalling the rampage in Hainault, East London, in April 2024, Insp Campbell said: "There were more calls coming in about this incident.

"There was one saying there was a man running around with a large knife, someone else mentioned a sword. At that point we realised this is really serious."

Terrifying footage shows 37-year-old Monzo attacking the inspector with the sword, slicing through his body camera and hand and almost severing a thumb. But his bravery and that of PC Yasmin Mechem-Whitfield and PC Cameron King, who had already tried to apprehend him, meant Monzo was arrested.

He was later jailed for at least 40 years.