Nanny, 21, stabbed to death by London Bridge terrorist after she ‘fell over in her high heels’ as she tried to flee knife maniac
THE youngest victim of the London Bridge terror attack was murdered after she fell over in her high heels while trying to escape, an inquest heard.
Australian au pair Sara Zelenak, 21, appeared to lose her balance and fell over on the wet pavement and was helped up by a Good Samaritan.
Brit James McMullan, 32, is believed to have tried to help before they were both set upon by attackers armed with 12in blades and killed, the Old Bailey heard today.
Ms Zelenak was stabbed more than once and her helper, Mr McMullan, the only British victim, suffered a wound to his chest.
They were among eight people killed when Khuram Butt, 27, Rachid Redouane, 30, and Youssef Zaghba, 22, launched their van and knife rampage on London Bridge and in Borough Market on June 3 2017.
GOOD SAMARITAN
Xavier Thomas, 45, Christine Archibald, 30, Alexandre Pigeard, 26, Kirsty Boden, 28, Sebastien Belanger, 36, and Ignacio Echeverria, 39, also died in the atrocity before their attackers were shot dead by armed police.
Sara was on a night out with her friend Priscila Goncalves and the pair left the bar just before the terrorists ploughed into pedestrians on the bridge and crashed into railings.
Ms Goncalves was seen on CCTV among a crowd running away without her friend.
Giving evidence, she said: “When we were crossing the bridge we saw this bar where there are some tables outside, some red lights.
‘EVERYBODY WAS RUNNING’
“It was really close to the cathedral. We thought it would be a really good idea to go there.”
As they went down the steps towards the bar, they heard a “crash” and went back to have a look.
She told the court: “She was just next to me. When we were going down the stairs and then I heard something and then we went up the stairs to see what happened and people started saying ‘run’ and that’s what we did.
“I thought I had seen the van but now I don’t think I had actually. I was just very confused.”
She said: “I had no idea what was going on. We were together. People said run. I started to run.
“I thought she was with me and then I looked, she was not. Everybody was running.”
Ms Golcalves tried to contact her friend on Facebook after she took refuge in a hotel but she was unable to get a response.
There was a lot of screaming and shouting
Eyewitness
Erick Siguenza filmed terrified people screaming and running away as the two victims were stabbed.
He told the court: “As soon as the van crashed they stepped out and the driver stabbed the woman that had jumped out to get out of the way of the van crashing. That’s when they started stabbing her.
“I believe there was a gentleman trying to help her get up and he was stabbed as well.
“As I was recording there was a lot of screaming and just people realising what was going on and just shouting in general.”
Gareth Patterson QC, representing the victims’ families, said: “We know Sara Zelenak was found within minutes at the top of the steps and we know the young white woman with long hair had stab injuries.
‘LOST HER BALANCE’
“We also know she was wearing high heels and on the ground it was quite wet that night.
“From what you saw of this man helping her, did you get the impression she lost her balance?”
The witness said: “Yes. She was completely on the ground. He just grabbed her left arm and gently tried to pick her up but by then the attackers were in close proximity and that’s when they started attacking.
“There was no time for him to be able to help her up because the driver and the other terrorists were already running towards them.”
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Mr Patterson QC, suggested that Ms Zelenak’s high heels coupled with wet weather might have caused her to suffer an ankle injury.
He said: “Maybe those two factors contributed to make her less stable than she might otherwise have been when this sudden attack came on her.”
Detective Constable Alastair Hutchison said: “Yes, that’s a possibility.”