Hero baker who fought terrorists could sue at ‘lack of counselling’

BY TOBY PORTER
toby@slpmedia.co.uk

A baker praised by the Prime Minister for his heroics during a terror attack may sue the government after he claimed there was no offer of trauma counselling or support after the attack

Florin Morariu, 32, hit one of the attackers over the head with a crate and then ushered 20 people into the safety of the bakery where he worked in Borough Market.

PM Theresa May praised him in the House of Commons within days, saying: “People from all over the world stood together in some of the most inspiring ways.

“We saw a Romanian baker fighting off the terrorists and giving shelter to Londoners in his bakery.”

But Florin says he was given no support after the horrendous events, despite having regular nightmares afterwards.

He says he is now in fear of his life and moved back to his homeland to escape reprisals, following the attack in which eight people were killed and 48 injured on and around London Bridge on June 3 last year.

He asked for protection from British police within days of the attack, fearing friends of the terrorists would try to find him and kill him.

He also claimed his South London landlord insisted he move out, as she too feared reprisals.

Florin eventually returned to Romania and is now taking legal advice over the lack of support he has had.

Even the day after the attack, he said: “I don’t want any money and I didn’t want to be a hero.

“The only thing I want now is to be given some protection.

“Frankly, I’m disappointed. I tried to do good, to do the right thing, but no-one from the police has called me to discuss security.

“They told me that they cannot put me in a witness protection programme, because the three attackers were killed and the other 12 were arrested.

“Everywhere I go I must be careful. I will carry that fear with me for the rest of my life. Back then everybody hailed me as a hero, but now I realise that all the promises were not fulfilled.

“I am just a simple man. I can’t fight on my own. I feel that I was treated unfairly, because I was left alone in this story. No one did a thing for me. They all washed their hands.”

His lawyer, Gianina Porosnicu, said Morariu deserves some kind of compensation because the terror attack in which he defended British citizens “ruined his life”.

She added: “Florin was working legally in England, for three years.

“It’s time for everybody to do more for our hero.”

The baker, who was working a night shift when the terrorists struck, said at the time that people had tried to stop him leaving the relative security of the bakery to confront the terrorists with his two bread crates.

“They said ‘It’s a terrorist attack,’ and ‘Can’t you see people are dead’ but I walked out the door,” he said.

When he saw an attacker stabbing someone, he first thought about fleeing, but decided against it because he thought he might be caught.

“So I took a crate and threw it at the attacker and then ran towards him and used the other crate to hit him on the head,” he added. “People were desperate.”

He let about 20 people into the bakery and pulled the shutters down.

In a video posted on social media, he filmed the aftermath of the attack as he raced through Borough Market.

Three terrorists crashed a van into pedestrians on London Bridge in the attacks. They then used knives to attack people in the busy shopping and restaurant area nearby.

Armed police shot dead the three attackers – Khuram Shazad Butt, Rachid Redouane and Youssef Zaghba.

A further 12 suspects thought to be connected to the attackers were arrested shortly afterwards, and controlled explosions were carried out.

The Home Office had not commented on the story at the time of going to press.