Suspect stabbing Dutch Gothenburg ‘don’t remember anything’

The man who was arrested yesterday in Gothenburg for stabbing a Dutch girl and her grandmother has, according to Swedish media, a long criminal record and psychiatric problems. The Swedish Public Prosecution Service says he has stated that he has no recollection of the stabbing.

The 36-year-old suspect stabbed the 10-year-old girl and her 70-year-old grandmother yesterday at a tram stop in Gothenburg, why is unclear. The police do not assume a terrorist motive. He was overpowered by bystanders and handed over to the police.

According to a witness, he stabbed the girl several times in the upper body. Her condition is stable, says the hospital where she was admitted. The girl is said to be from Amsterdam and was visiting her grandparents. Her grandmother was able to leave the hospital after treatment for an injury to her arm.

The suspect is said to have come to Sweden from Iran with his parents in 1989 and got into drugs at an early age. He was convicted several times, including in 2015 for robbing a jewelry store. Then he was sentenced to three years in prison. In prison, he assaulted a fellow inmate.

In November last year he was in court for theft of electronics. The prison sentence he received was suspended because there were signs that he was improving his life.