- Victim, named as 'Katie, worked at the Little Diamonds Nursery in Hermon Hill
- Karrien Stevens, who runs the nursery, said staff member was on way to work
- Victim was dragged to floor and stabbed as attackers chanted 'Allah', she said
- Schools in the area were on put 'lockdown' after the attack just after 9.30am
- A Metropolitan Police spokesman could not confirm if the force were investigating a hate crime or whether the attackers were known to the victim
Karrien Stevens (pictured), who runs Little Diamonds nursery in Hermon Hill, London said a member of staff was stabbed
A nursery worker was left with broken ribs after she was kicked to the ground and slashed with a Stanley knife by three women chanting 'Allah will get you'.
Karrien Stevens, who runs Little Diamonds Nursery in Hermon Hill, London said a member of staff was punched, kicked and slashed with a 'Stanley knife' while on her way to work this morning.
The victim, named as Katie, was walking down Wanstead High Street, in north-east London, when she was set upon and knifed, according to her boss.
She was attacked from behind and then stabbed in the arm as her assailants chanted 'Allah', however police are not treating it as a terrorist incident.
Nearby schools sent out emails telling parents they were on 'lockdown' after the attack at about 9.30am.
The nursery boss said the victim, who is in her 30s, described the attackers as 'Asian girls'. They ran off when a man came to the rescue and walked her to her workplace.
'After it happened she was very shook up, very emotional, but she's in hospital now,' Ms Stevens said.
'She's had stitches and had some cracked ribs but she'll be fine, she's going to be discharged later today.'
The victim, 30, was walking down Wanstead High Street on her way to the nursery (pictured), when she was set upon and knifed by three 'Asian girls', according to her boss
The victim was just a few minutes from work when she was allegedly dragged to the ground and knifed
Ms Stevens said she believed the attackers were strangers and the assault was unprovoked.
She said: 'It was just a random attack, she was walking down by the station and they came up behind her and attacked her.
'She described it as a Stanley knife that they used to slash her arm from her wrist to her elbow.
'She wasn't wearing a school uniform or anything to provoke anyone, she has idea why they did it.'
She added: 'When she got to work we couldn't believe it and called the police straight away. It's terrible, I'm absolutely horrified. You don't expect something like this to happen on your doorstep.'
A colleague, who did not want to be named, said the victim had 'three Asian girls behind her chanting the Koran and 'Allah''.
She added: 'They pulled her to the ground, punched her, kicked her. One of them pulled out a knife and cut her arm from her wrist to her elbow. The police turned up, the [paramedics] cleaned her wounds up.
'She's okay, considering. Obviously it's a shock, she's in shock. She was in tears and she had a cut right up her arm.
'Her stomach was hurting, she had marks all over her, her hair was pulled out.'
The victim, described as a white woman, was attacked by the three girls 'dressed all in black' less than 10 minutes' walk from the nursery.
Paul Ashmore, 31, a mixing and mastering engineer in South Woodford, said his fiancee and child were held on lockdown at Wanstead Church School, a 30-second walk away.
He said his fiancee called him to say the school was not allowing anyone to leave 'because there was a stabbing outside', and added that the police did not know 'where the persons who did it were'.
They were initially told it was gang-related, he said.
'My instant thought was to collect my fiancee and kid and get them to safety not knowing the full extent of what was happening. But I was thinking the worst.
'I instantly, after what has been happening regarding terrorists, thought the worst and informed her I will drive up to collect them,' Mr Ashmore said
A Metropolitan Police spokesman could not confirm if the force were investigating a hate crime or whether the attackers were known to the victim.
He added that the Met's Counter Terrorism Command was aware of the assault but is not investigating 'at this time'.
Officers drove the victim around the area in an attempt to find the perpetrators but no arrests have been made.
A spokesman for the London Ambulance service said: 'We sent an ambulance crew to the scene, arriving in under six minutes.
'We treated a woman and the scene and took her to a hospital in east London.'
Did BBC edit out 'Allah'? Corporation accused of censorship after interview with boss of nursery worker who was 'stabbed by three Asian girls' is CUT
Karrien Stevens, who runs the nursery, said staff member was stabbed
- She told reporters that the woman, named only as Katie, was attacked from behind by the trio chanting 'Allah' and slashed with a Stanley knife
- But in her BBC interview the references to Allah appear to have been taken out
- The quote does appear in the online written version of the story
- Police are treating the attack as a hate crime and not terror related
The BBC has been accused of censorship after Twitter uses suggested references to 'Allah' and the 'Koran' were edited out of a TV interview.
Karrien Stevens, who runs Little Diamonds Nursery in Hermon Hill, London said yesterday that a member of her staff was punched, kicked and slashed with a 'Stanley knife' by three 'Asian women' chanting about 'Allah' and the 'Koran'.
The televised interview, which was shared on Twitter, shows a cut at 17 seconds - the point where users suggested Ms Stevens would have gone on to make her comments about Islam.
At this point in the clip users say the interview skips, suggesting two pieces of footage were spliced together.
The reason some Twitter users believe that these comments were edited out is because Ms Stevens is quoted in a written BBC Online article saying the women 'shouted out "something to do with Allah and the Koran".'
A BBC spokesman admitted the television clip was edited to fit their news report, but would not confirm which comments made by Ms Stevens were removed from their broadcast.
The Metropolitan Police is treating the assault as a 'hate crime' and not terror related.
Ms Stevens told journalists that the victim, identified only as Katie, was on her way into work at about 9.30am in Wanstead High Street when she was followed by three women 'dressed in black'.
One viewer tweeted: 'Yep... at 17 seconds... Clip altered
Another Twitter user said: 'Sounds like biased reporting'
The 34-second clip was edited half way through as Ms Stevens talked about the attackers, causing speculation that the references were deliberately removed.
One viewer tweeted: 'Yep... at 17 seconds... Clip altered.'
Another said: 'Sounds like biased reporting.'
It was described as 'shameless censorship' by another Twitter user.
A BBC spokeswoman denied that the clip was edited to sensor the Allah comments.
She said that the TV interview needed to be edited to fit into a short news report for broadcast, but that the corporation's coverage of the story online and on Radio 2 included comments that Ms Stevens had given in other interviews, where she was more specific about what she heard.
The spokesman added: 'We reported this story accurately adding new information when we could, including reporting claims of what was being shouted.'
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