A 47-year-old woman has been charged with seriously wounding four men in a stabbing incident in central London. Stella Gollovena, who has no fixed address, was due to appear at Highbury magistrates' court on Thursday 6 August 2026 to face the charges, which were announced the same day by the Metropolitan Police (The Guardian).

The incident took place on Wednesday 5 August 2026 at around 12:30pm. Police were called to Endell Street in Covent Garden after four men — aged 34, 39, 42, and 56 — were found with stab wounds. All four were taken to hospital with injuries described as neither life-threatening nor life-changing, and all have since been discharged.

London's air ambulance landed at Trafalgar Square in response, but paramedics treated the four men at the scene before they were taken to hospital by road. Sending a helicopter to a busy central London location suggests emergency responders initially treated the report of multiple stabbing victims as potentially serious, given the crowded area.

Gollovena was arrested at the scene. Police later recovered scissors in connection with the incident (NBC Montana). Authorities described the stabbing as a mental health incident, a label that shaped both the police response and how the charges were framed.

The charges became more serious as the case progressed. On 5 August, Gollovena was arrested on suspicion of possessing an offensive weapon and assault (The Guardian). By the following day, those suspicions had been raised to four counts of "wounding with intent to cause grievous bodily harm" — meaning deliberately causing serious injury — along with a weapons charge.

Under UK law, "wounding with intent" is one of the most serious violent crime charges. It requires prosecutors to prove that the defendant caused a wound and did so on purpose, not just recklessly. If convicted, Gollovena would face sentencing guidelines that reflect the deliberate infliction of serious injury. The maximum penalty is life in prison.

The broader context here is the intersection of violent crime and mental health crisis response in central London. By describing the incident as a mental health episode rather than a targeted or random attack, police set it apart from the knife crime that has dominated public conversation about London policing. That framing matters for what happens next: it affects how prosecutors approach the case, how the defence might argue reduced responsibility due to mental health, and whether the court orders a psychiatric evaluation.

The location adds another layer. Endell Street sits in the heart of Covent Garden, an area packed with tourists, theatre-goers, and office workers. A midday stabbing there, involving four men spanning a 22-year age range, would have caused immediate public alarm. The fact that all four victims left hospital the same day, however, suggests the injuries — while serious enough to support the charges — were medically contained.

Gollovena having no fixed address also introduces complications. Judges deciding whether to grant bail to someone without a stable address, who is facing serious violent crime charges, tend to keep the person in custody — especially when the alleged weapon was found at the scene.

The case now moves through the standard magistrates' court process. Because the charges are so serious, the matter is likely to be sent to the Crown Court — which handles more serious cases — for trial or sentencing. Magistrates' courts have limited sentencing powers that fall well short of the maximum penalty for wounding with intent.