Man appears in court accused of stabbing surgeon outside mosque

A man has appeared in court accused of stabbing a surgeon who treated victims of the Manchester Arena attack.

Nasser Kurdy, who operated on those injured in the bombing in May, was stabbed from behind with a knife as he walked into a mosque in Hale, Cheshire, just before 6pm on Sunday.

The 58-year-old victim suffered a 3cm wound to the back of his neck and was taken to Wythenshawe hospital for treatment, where he works as a consultant orthopaedic surgeon.

Ian Anthony Rook, 28, of no fixed abode, appeared at Manchester magistrates court on Tuesday charged with unlawful and malicious wounding with intent to cause grievous bodily harm and possession of a lethal weapon, a knife.

Wearing a grey jumper and grey tracksuit bottoms, Rook stood beside two security officers in the glass-encased dock and spoke only to confirm his name.

District judge Khalid Qureshi ordered psychiatric reports to be carried out and remanded him in custody. He is next due to appear for a preliminary hearing at Manchester Minshull Street crown court on 23 October.

Rook waved to members of his family in the public gallery as he was led to the court cells after the five-minute hearing.

Kurdy, a father of three from a Syrian–Jordanian family, was preparing to go back to work to treat his patients on Tuesday as his alleged attacker appeared in court.

Speaking after being discharged from hospital on Monday, Kurdy said: “God was merciful to me yesterday. It could be a nerve, an artery, a vein, the gullet. The neck is the contact between the body and your head, but fortunately it was just the muscle.”

Police made two arrests and said they were treating the incident as a hate crime. The second man arrested has been released and police said no further action will be taken against him.

Kurdy has worked as a doctor for four decades, after coming to Britain to study medicine in 1977 and working in Perth, Dundee and Northampton before settling in Manchester in 1991.

He was going to the Altrincham Islamic Centre for mid-afternoon prayers and a committee meeting, as he is a lay imam, sometimes giving sermons, and vice-chairman of Altrincham and Hale Muslim Association.