muhaydin mire
Muhaydin Mire, 29, appeared in court charged with attempted murder

Police were contacted by the family of a terror suspect three weeks before he carried out a knife attack at Leytonstone Tube Station on 5 December. Muhyadin Mire's family say they contacted police after growing worried over his mental health.

Mire appeared at Westminster Magistrates' Court on 7 December to face a charge of the attempted murder of a 56-year-old man, named only as Male A. Mire is reported to have cut the man's throat in a sawing motion, leaving a 12cm gash on his neck.

Mire's family members asked the Metropolitan Police whether officers needed to step in after they grew increasingly concerned at his "crazy" behaviour. Scotland Yard has confirmed that it was in contact with a relative prior to the attack in which the 29-year-old reportedly screamed "this is for Syria".

"He was saying odd things, talking nonsense and saying that he was seeing demons," Mire's brother, Mohamed told Channel 4 News. A statement by the Metropolitan Police said: "The police were contacted by a family member approximately three weeks before the incident on Saturday.

"There was no mention of radicalisation; the conversation related entirely to health-related issues and the family were therefore correctly referred to health services for help." Mire's family told police that they wanted him to be sectioned under the Mental Health Act, according to the Telegraph.

Mire - who worked as an Uber driver - arrived in the UK from Somalia at the age of 12 and attended a school in Camden, London. Mohamed said his brother had aspirations to become a computer scientist, but that he began keeping company with the wrong people. "He was a good boy and he loved football. As far as I know he loved education, he wanted to be a computer scientist," Mohamed said. "It didn't work out for him. He got in with the wrong people."

Mohamed said that he believed his brother's cannabis use led to mental health issues. "He was diagnosed by a doctor and treated in 2007 for paranoia and [treated] in hospital for three months," he said. He added that the state of Mire's mental health decline further in August 2015.

"He went a bit crazy, he was saying odd things. I explained to the family the situation, we tried to get him help, we tried to call the local authority," Mohamed said. "They could not help him, they said he was not a harm to people and he was not a harm to himself. We tried to tell them – this guy has mental issues, can you at least section him. I talked to the police," he added.

"And then I decide to move him out of the country so I called my mum [who lives in Somalia] and she told me to take him out the country to help him out. So I decide to book tickets for him this Sunday."

Appearing at Westminster Magistrates' Court, Mire spoke only to confirm his name, date of birth and address. He was remanded in custody and will appear at the Old Bailey on 11 December. Armed police were deployed to tube stations around London following the incident and involve both uniformed and plain-clothed officers.