A man alleged to have beheaded an 82-year-old London woman after killing a pet cat remained in hospital under guard yesterday as police waited to question him.

Palmira Silva was killed in Edmonton on Thursday.

Police were forced to stage an evacuation operation to save neighbours and an armed squad Tasered the knifeman as he struggled with officers, leaving one with a broken wrist.

The house where Ms Silva’s body was found became the scene of a major police operation that continued into the night.

Scotland Yard said that its officers had distracted the man after he was seen going through back gardens in Nightingale Road.

They intended to prevent him attacking anyone else while they evacuated people from nearby homes.

Officers from the Met’s homicide and major crime command are also investigating an attempted attack on two people at another house in the road before Ms Silva was killed.