University drop-out attacks four policemen with knife, then blames Indian hemp for his action

A university drop-out has attacked four policemen with a kitchen knife, saying he was high on Indian hemp and had no idea of what he was doing.  

20-year old Alex Traykov, a former History student at Winchester University, had called the emergency line 999 to report a fight at a house in Islington, north London, on the evening of October 6, 2018. He then lay in wait with a large kitchen knife hidden behind him in the hallway of his friend’s flat, Yahoo News UK reported.

The four officers were completely unprepared for the “extreme violence” that was unleashed on them, the court heard. Prosecutor Duncan Atkinson said the officers sustained injuries variously to the heads, faces, back of the neck and hands. After Traykov had attacked three policemen, the fourth officer brought him down as he Tasered him twice.  

Traykov was made to produce the knife at his trial. The Redhill, Surrey, resident accepted that he had injured the officers but denied he meant them serious harm. The former Winchester University history student said he was so “high” on cannabis that he was not thinking straight.  

Judge Wendy Joseph QC said Traykov faced a “substantial” prison term when he is sentenced on May 10. One of the policemen, PC Watkins said: “When I attended the call that night, it was with the intention of protecting the public, I didn’t realise it would in fact be me, and my colleagues, who would be fighting for our lives at the hands of a knife-wielding 19-year-old who had lured us to the address with the intention of carrying out the attack. I have never been subjected to such a violent and determined attack in the entirety of my 16 years of service, and I hope that no other officer ever has to endure such violence.”