A woman who risked her life to confront an armed man suspected of murdering a soldier has described how she tried to calm him minutes after the brutal attack.

Ingrid Loyau-Kennett, 48, was on a bus heading through Woolwich yesterday when she spotted the stricken soldier lying in the road.

The brownie leader’s actions and bravery have been praised by Woolwich and Greenwich MP Nick Raynsford.

She told ITV Daybreak she initially thought the victim had been injured in a car crash.

She said: “I went to the guy and when I approached the body there was a lady cradling him. And then (one of the killers), the most excited one of the tow, said, ‘Don’t go too close to the body’.

“I thought, okay. And because I was down I could see a butcher’s knife and an axe - that’s what he had - and blood. I thought, what the heck? I thought obviously he was a bit excited and the thing was just to talk to him.”

Mrs Loyau-Kennett said she tried to reason with the killer in an effort to focus his attention away from other potential victims, as large crowds began to huddle at the scene.

She said: “I know it’s big today but for me it was just a regular guy, just a bit upset. He was not on drugs, he was not drunk.

“He said, ‘Don’t touch, I killed him’. I said, ‘Why?’ He said: ‘He’s a British soldier. He killed people. He killed Muslim people in Muslim countries.’

“And I said: okay. So what would you like? I tried to maker him talk about how he felt. He said all the bombs dropping and blindly killing women, children...

“More and more people were starting to come. There were so many people around. I just looked around and I found it so daunting.”

Ms Loyau-Kennett added: “He (the killer) told me he was a British soldier - he didn’t look like a British soldier to me, he wasn’t in uniform. But I thought if another one passes by, or is in the area...”

Asked if she was scared, the woman replied: “No - better me than a child.”

One of the attackers behind the killing was filmed wielding a bloodied meat cleaver, saying: “We swear by almighty Allah we will never stop fighting you.”

In the chilling footage, he explains his terrifying actions.

“We must fight them as they fight us. An eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth,” he is heard to say in the clip, obtained by ITV News.

“I apologise that women have had to witness this today, but in our land our women have to see the same. You people will never be safe. Remove your government, they don’t care about you.”