Passengers on a train that was attacked in the Huntingdon train attack threw whatever they could find at the knifeman, including a toaster and a woman’s Zimmer frame, a court has heard.
Anthony Williams, 33, of Langford Road, Peterborough, is accused of stabbing 10 people on the York to London King’s Cross LNER service on 1 November last year. The train made an unscheduled stop at Huntingdon, Cambridgeshire. He denies 10 counts of attempted murder, along with four other alleged attempted murders in earlier incidents in Peterborough and London.
Jurors at Cambridge Crown Court have been watching video interviews with victims of the stabbings.
Passengers improvised defences as attack unfolded
Raza Aslam, one of the victims, described how chaos erupted shortly after the train left Peterborough. He said someone burst through the back door of his carriage and shouted for everyone to run. Aslam helped a mother and child into a toilet and locked them inside while he stayed in the carriage.
He recalled that train staff member Samir Zitouni was rushing back and forth, gathering items such as trolleys and pans for passengers to use in their defence. When Williams appeared, Aslam said the attacker seemed to be checking whether he was hiding anything behind his back, and then he felt the knife stab him.
Aslam remembered Zitouni and another man throwing objects, including a woman’s Zimmer frame, at Williams. He credited Zitouni with saving him. He also described Williams as the calmest person he had ever met, noting that Williams could have stabbed them all in the back afterwards but did not.
Another victim, Michael Paffett, told the court that people tipped a catering trolley onto its side to use as a barrier, and that a man threw a full-size toaster at the attacker.
Football fan grappled with attacker
Stephen Crean, a football fan wearing Nottingham Forest clothing, was standing by a door of the buffet car after buying a £6 meal deal. He said Williams asked him if he wanted to die as he produced a blade from nowhere.
Crean described how people struggled to shut the buffet door. Once he heard it click, he turned towards Williams. He said he grappled with the attacker to stop him using the knife, and the struggle was so chaotic that it was like a dance, with the pair moving all over the place.
He said his fingers were cut and Williams was twisting and turning the knife. Crean later managed to call 999 from a locked toilet and only came out when he heard police arrive.
Asked about Williams’s demeanour, Crean said the attacker appeared completely normal and did not seem angry, but was focused on a mission.
Whether Williams carried out the attacks is not in dispute, the court has been told. Jurors must decide whether he intended to kill. The trial continues.
