Highgate stabbing: Restaurant boss rushed to man in pool of broken glass after posh suburb attack

A restaurant owner rushed to help the victim of a found lying in a pool of broken glass in Highgate last night. The man was attacked outside Superette grocery store on Swain's Lane at around 8pm.

Diners in the nearby London Shell Co fled into shops while staff barricaded themselves in the toilet. Police are yet to make any arrests, and three men were reportedly seen speeding away from the scene. Harry Lobek, owner of London Shell Co, told the : “I went to look and saw someone on the floor just bleeding out. The girlfriend was screaming.

"I got down and lifted up his t-shirt and had two puncture wounds in his back about two centimetres wide, side by side. I grabbed a towel and began to put pressure on the wound and asked the people to call the police and an ambulance. The victim on the floor kept asking me to move him because he was lying on a whole load of broken glass which was cutting his knees."

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It is understood the man was treated at the scene for his injuries before being taken to hospital by ambulance. It is not clear what his condition is. A police cordon was subsequently put up at the junction with Highgate Road outside the Duke of St Albans pub.

Mr Lobek said he helped police officers lift the victim off the floor before paramedics cut his clothes off. He had been stabbed three times in the back, according to the restaurant owner.

A London Ambulance Service spokesperson said: “We sent resources to the scene, including an ambulance crew, a paramedic in a fast response car, an incident response officer and a clinical team manager.

“We also dispatched a trauma team in a car from London’s Air Ambulance. Our first paramedics arrived in five minutes. We treated a man at the scene and took him to a major trauma centre.”

Zena, who lives nearby, told : "I’m upset, I really hope the person who was stabbed is ok as nobody seems to know. I hope that they catch the person who did it and they find out why it happened. This is a really peaceful area. Superette is a wonderful store with lovely people working there. It’s a real asset."

Superette said it would close today and possibly also tomorrow.

Cllr Lorna Russell, who lives in nearby Holly Lodge, said: "I am both shocked and horrified to see this on our doorstep. My thoughts are with the victim and his family."

The Metropolitan Police has been contacted for comment.