A 28-year-old man has been sectioned under the Mental Health Act after a girl of two was stabbed, it has been revealed.

The toddler was taken into intensive care, covered in blood, after the incident at an address in Gravesend.

At first her condition was described as critical but police said that, following surgery, the child had been taken out of intensive care.

A police patrol officer was also hurt during the drama last weekend but was saved from serious injury by his stab vest and did not require hospital treatment.

Janice Machin, of Old Road East, Gravesend, who witnessed the aftermath, said: "It was like watching something on TV, then it suddenly struck me that it was real."

The 28-year-old man was arrested on suspicion of attempted murder. He is now being assessed in a secure hospital unit.

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