LONDON -- The suspect in Wednesday's stabbing in Golders Green, northwest London, had been charged with two counts of attempted murder and one count of possession of a bladed article in a public place, the Metropolitan Police said on Friday.

The man, named Essa Suleiman, is a British national born in Somalia, according to a police statement. He is also charged with attempted murder over a separate stabbing in southeast London on the same day as the Golders Green stabbing.

On Wednesday, two people were stabbed in the Golders Green area, before the attacker was tasered and arrested by the attending police. The stabbing was later declared "a terrorist incident" by the British counter-terrorism police.

The attacker was known to the Prevent, the country's official counter-extremism scheme, and was subject to a Prevent referral in 2020, the Metropolitan Police was quoted by British media outlets as saying on Thursday.

Britain also raised its terrorism threat level to "severe" on Thursday, meaning that an attack is highly likely in the next six months, according to the British Home Office.

Britain's Security Minister Dan Jarvis said the government will invest an extra 25 million pounds (33.8 million US dollars) to increase police patrols and security for the protection of the Jewish communities.