Alex Traykov: Man guilty of knife attack on four police officers following hoax 999 call

A man who lured four police officers to an address after making a hoax 999 call has been convicted after stabbing them in an unprovoked attack caught on CCTV.

University dropout Alex Traykov, 20, was cleared of attempted murder but convicted of three counts of wounding with intent and a fourth charge of attempted wounding with intent.

A jury deliberated for eight hours to reach verdicts by a majority of 10 to two.

Traykov used the alias "Solomon" when he reported a fight at a house in Islington, north London on 6 October last year.

The Old Bailey heard that within three minutes, the four constables - two men and two women - arrived on the doorstep completely unprepared for the "extreme violence" they were about to face.

Appearing to hold a kitchen knife behind his back, Traykov answered the door to one of the female officers.

Prosecuting, Duncan Atkinson QC told jurors: "Without hesitation or warning and certainly without the slightest provocation from the officers, he raised his right hand and proceeded to attack the officers."

PC Istarlin Said-Ali says she tried to warn her colleagues that Traykov was carrying a weapon and attempted to protect herself by raising her arm. He slashed the back of her head and hand.

She fell down the steps and CCTV footage shows Traykov attacking the other officers who eventually managed to restrain him after one of them, PC Launa Watkins, discharged her taser.

Giving evidence at the Old Bailey, Traykov, who lived with his mother in Redhill, Surrey, denied he meant the officers serious harm.

The former Winchester University history student said he was so "high" on strong cannabis that he was not thinking straight and claimed he had called 999 to play a "prank" on his friend, then forgot all about it and made crumpets with jam.

He claimed that was why he was still holding a knife when he answered the door.

He told jurors: "I have felt terrible since I came to prison and I have thought about it every day, tried to reason and live with it.

"I thought about the officers, how they were injured, and now I have seen them in court it's 10 times worse for me."

Following the verdict, the officers spoke of the mental and physical impact of the attack.

One of them, PC Said-Ali described a "rollercoaster of emotions" over the past six months, saying: "Although we are police officers, we are human beings just like the communities we serve.

"We should be able to go to work and do the job we have chosen to do without a fear of not going home to our loved ones at the end of our shift.

"It is my hope that justice will be served and I hope this can stand in some way as a line drawn in the sand."

Traykov, who made no reaction in the dock, was remanded into custody and warned he faced a "substantial" prison term when he is sentenced on 10 May.