An 11-year-old girl stabbed eight times by a stranger in London’s Leicester Square this week is an Australian tourist, according to the country’s authorities.

The Australian foreign ministry disclosed her nationality on Tuesday and said it was offering assistance to the girl and her mother, who was with her at the time of the attack.

Both had been visiting London on holiday when they were set upon in the popular tourist district on Monday.

UK police have charged a 32-year-old man, Ioan Pintaru, with attempted murder.

Prosecutors told a London court on Tuesday that Mr Pintaru had approached the duo on Monday at about 11:30 BST. He grabbed the child, put her in a headlock and then attacked her with a steak knife.

“[He] stabbed her eight times to the body,” prosecutor David Burns told the Westminster Magistrate Court.

She suffered wounds to her face, neck, wrists and shoulders and which required plastic surgery in hospital. UK authorities say she has since been discharged.

Mr Pintaru was remanded in custody until his next court hearing on 10 September. UK authorities say he is a Romanian national with no fixed address.

Police have said they do not believe the stabbing was terror-related.