A driver who ran over a knifeman to stop him attacking his ex-partner in the street has spoken out for the first time since his arrest for murder.

The man, known only as ‘Abraham’, was bailed after the incident in Maida Vale during the Monday morning school run and has now begged the Metropolitan Police to de-arrest him.

He was driving on Chippenham Road when he saw Leon McCaskre, 41, repeatedly stabbing mum-of-two Yasmin Chkaifi, 43.

Abraham drove towards the pair and ended up hitting them, with McCaskre becoming trapped under the vehicle.

To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a webbrowser thatsupports HTML5video

Both the knifeman and his victim died at the scene, despite the resuscitation efforts of bystanders, and the 26-year-old was arrested for murder.

In a statement published by his lawyer Mohammed Akunjee, the motorist said it was ‘never my intention to harm’ and that he ‘just wanted to stop him from hurting anybody further’.

He: ‘I am a person of good character, I have never been arrested before in my life.

‘I witnessed a man repeatedly stabbing a defenceless woman on the pavement a short distance in front of my car.

‘Members of the public were attempting to intervene, the attacker was wielding a knife and was threatening those brave citizens too.

‘My instant thought was to protect the woman who had been stabbed and the public who were also being threatened…I drove my vehicle towards the attacker in order to get him away from the woman he was attacking.

‘I did not intend to harm the attacker, I only intended to protect those being attacked.’

More than 20,000 people have signed a petition calling for the driver not to face criminal charges and have described him as a hero.

Members of Ms Chkaifi’s family have also reportedly praised him for intervening.

It emerged after the killing that the mature student had been subjected to a campaign of abuse at the hands of her ex-partner.

McCaskie was due in court on Thursday accused of breaching an interim stalking protection order, which barred him from contacting her.

Ms Chkaifi’s family said after her death: ‘She had a panic alarm in her house and he was extremely abusive.

‘The police were aware of his abuse and social workers were involved.’

Abraham said he did not understand why he remained arrested. He added he has asked Mr Akunjee to contact the Metropolitan Police to request they consider de-arresting him and ‘begin treating (him) as a witness to a tragic event rather than as a criminal.’

Meanwhile, the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) has confirmed it has opened an investigation into the Met’s handling of the case.

A statement said: ‘We can confirm that we have received a referral from the Metropolitan Police regarding their contact with Yasmin Chkaifi prior to her tragic death in Maida Vale, London, on January 24.

‘We are currently assessing the available information, and have requested more, to determine what further action may be required from us.’

The Met Police said it could not comment, now that the IOPC is investigating.

Get in touch with our news team by emailing us at [email protected].

For more stories like this, check our news page.

Source: Read Full Article