Eltham hammer attack: Man charged with attempting to murder City worker and her mother

A man has been charged with two counts of attempted murder after a hammer attack on a mother and daughter in south-east London.

Joe Xuereb, 27, appeared in court on Tuesday in connection with a serious assault on Ania Gos, a 30-year-old King’s College graduate who now works in the City, and her mother, 64, on Sunday afternoon.

Officers were called at 12.10pm to find two women suffering from devastating injuries "consistent with a violent assault" in Adderley Gardens, Eltham, Scotland Yard said.

They were taken to south London hospitals, where they remain in a critical condition.

A hammer was recovered from the scene which was "believed to have been used in the assault", police said.

Xuereb, of Greenwich, was arrested on Sunday evening.

He appeared in custody at Bromley Magistrates' Court on Tuesday charged with two counts of attempted murder and possession of an offensive weapon. He was remanded in custody to appear at the Old Bailey on Tuesday, September 18.

Ms Gos is a Polish national who works at S&P Global, a financial services firm in Canary Wharf.

A LinkedIn page states that she works in business support services.

The company said in a statement that colleagues had been left “extremely shocked” by the “senseless attack”.

Ms Gos also completed a one-year course in advanced English at King’s College, London, having earned a master’s in history at the University of Łódź, according to the page.

Her mother was visiting from Poland at the time of the attack.

Neighbour Bob Gover, 69, told The Telegraph that several other relatives including a sister and young nephew had also been staying with Ms Gos and her partner in their flat.