Terrifying moment Huntington train passengers flee for their lives as ‘knifeman rampages through carriages’

Terrifying footage has captured the moment hundreds of passengers fled in ‘sheer terror’ as a ‘marauding’ knifeman rampaged through carriages aboard an LNER train to London.

Anthony Williams, 33, is said to have ‘posed a dangerous threat’ as he stalked his victims ‘through towns and cities, on streets and trains alike’ during a series of violent Halloween weekend attacks that culminated in the mass stabbing.

The assaults began on October 31 last year when three people were attacked in Peterborough, including a 14-year-old boy. 

The defendant then travelled to London and stabbed a man on the Docklands Light Railway before boarding a Doncaster to London LNER service on the evening of November 1 where he ‘brought terror’ and attacked ten people.

Horrifying footage played in court showed dozens of passengers wrapped in coats and hats fleeing down carriages as Williams approached them, ‘slashing and stabbing with his knife’.

One of the clips showed train crew member Samir Zitouni trying to use a frying pan to fend off Williams as he held the sizeable knife in his face. He was ultimately stabbed multiple times, the court was told.

The CCTV clip showed a man holding the left side of his face, which appeared to be bleeding. Mr Zitouni, coming towards Williams, can be seen bravely placing his hand onto the wounded passenger and encouraging him to sit down as he shouted to the assailant and brandished a frying pan.

CCTV played to the court showed the moment Williams caused passengers to flee in ‘sheer terror’ as he walked through a carriage while holding a large knife

Passengers were seen fleeing for the doors on either side of the carriage and hiding under seats in an attempt to stay out of the assailant’s way 

A second man standing behind Mr Zitouni held a toaster in readiness of attempting to tackle the knifeman.

In another clip shown to the jury, which appears to show the moments before the attack began, the assailant can be seen walking into Carriage J and removing a bladed object from his pocket. 

He holds it in his right hand as he approaches a passenger wearing a hooded jumper from behind – before suddenly stabbing him. 

Within seconds, dozens of passengers are on their feet and flee towards both exits. Some of the passengers can be seen falling into the seats as they attempt to run. 

The attacker can then be seen making his way towards the door leading to the next carriage while swinging a huge knife in front of the passengers.

Those who are able to are seen fleeing in the opposite direction, the knifeman turning around to watch them as they ran, while still brandishing the weapon in the air.

In a second clip of carriage J, taken from a different angle, the assailant can be seen from behind calmly walking through the carriage while holding the knife. The footage shows those fleeing for their lives ranged from older passengers to a young child. 

The court was told that some of those travelling on the train hid in toilets and store cabinets or under seats, while others showed ‘extraordinary bravery’ by picking up ‘frying pans and toasters’ to fend Williams off.

Williams can be seen standing in the carriage just moments after the first victim was stabbed as other commuters looked towards the ensuing commotion 

A court sketch of Anthony Williams, 33, who is accused of embarking on a stabbing rampage

The latter included one passenger who was left with multiple injuries after grappling with Williams, who allegedly asked him: ‘Do you want to die?’

The attack only ended due to the ‘quick thinking of the train driver’, who diverted the train to Huntingdon, where hundreds of passengers sprinted down the platform before Williams was arrested.

Prosecutor Christopher Paxton KC told Cambridge Crown Court: ‘Across the Halloween weekend last year, to the many people he encountered, the defendant Anthony Williams posed a dangerous threat, marauding through towns and cities, on streets and trains alike, armed with a knife.

‘He stabbed many, seeking to end their lives with deadly intention, striking out at them when they were defenceless and in fear.’

The jury was told that the defendant had admitted attacking people with a knife and ‘intended to cause them really serious harm’ but denies 14 counts of attempted murder.

Williams appeared in court via videolink from high-security Rampton Hospital in Nottinghamshire.

He wore a standard-issue grey jumper and occasionally put on glasses as he sat in the pale grey room with legal documents in front of him.

Assisting him was an intermediary who, the jury was told, was there for ‘when the defendant needs help to understand what’s being said’.

Mr Justice Calver told jurors they would have to decide whether he intended to kill the people he attacked, as the prosecution claim.

The ‘rampage’ began when the 14-year-old boy, who can’t be named for legal reasons, was stabbed at a footbridge in Peterborough on October 31.

Two men – Dawid Taborski and William Ogelby – were then attacked nearby although they avoided injury.

A 17-year-old was then stabbed in the face while travelling on the Docklands Light Railway in east London at Pontoon Dock.

Armed police were called to Huntingdon train station on the evening of November 1 last year

A CCTV image of Williams brandishing a knife inside the Ritzy Barber Shop in Queen’s Walk in Peterborough last year – just hours before the train rampage

Williams then boarded an LNER train at 7.26pm on November 1, clutching a ‘large kitchen knife and a bottle of fortified tonic wine’, where the other ten attempted murders allegedly took place.

Describing passengers’ responses when the attack began, Mr Paxton said: ‘In sheer terror, the train passengers ran for their lives, hiding away in locked toilets, store cabinets, or under seats until many fleeing the defendant literally ran out of train.

‘Trapped and facing the defendant, who had been wielding, slashing out and stabbing with his knife, some sought to defend themselves and others on the train, showing extraordinary bravery in the face of the defendant’s onslaught, picking up frying pans or toasters to keep the defendant back, even trying to de-escalate the situation by asking him why was he doing it and telling him that they loved him.

‘But to no avail, the defendant continued his knife attack – slashing out and stabbing those around him.’

Victims included ‘defenceless and powerless’ David Presland, 73, who was attacked after he fell on the floor.

Scott Green was sitting with his dog Poppy and was so in ‘fear for his own life that he tried to grab the knife blade’.

Another passenger, Kevin Deely, received stab wounds to his scalp and a four-inch deep cut to his stomach.

Describing how there were ‘only so many places you can hide’ on a moving train, Mr Paxton said some passengers ‘stood tall’ by ‘defending themselves and putting themselves in harm’s way to protect strangers’.

These included Stephen Crean, who was ‘half in and half out of a buffet serving area’ when he decided that the defendant was ‘on a mission’ and he ‘had to try and stop it’.

CCTV showed the extraordinary scene as he launched himself at the assailant and grappled with him down the carriage, leaving him with wounds to the hand, head and lower back.

Earlier, jurors were told they would hear how Williams asked Mr Crean: ‘Do you want to die?’ 

Train crew member Samir Zitouni tried to use a frying pan to stop Williams but was stabbed multiple times, the court was told.

The bloody onslaught ended when the train stopped at Huntingdon and Williams was arrested. 

The jury was told that Williams had admitted affray and possessing a knife in relation to an incident at Ritzy barbershop in Peterborough, which happened shortly after the three alleged attempted murders.

He was seen ‘swigging from a bottle of alcohol’ before he ‘entered the shop brandishing the kitchen knife and those inside drew back from him’, after which Williams left.

The defendant made his way to Peterborough railway station and got on a London-bound train at 8.20pm, the court was told.

A female passenger, Kierah Lee Oakman, became concerned by his ‘erratic’ behaviour, which included muttering words such as ‘devil’ and ‘power’.

She got off at St Neots, Cambridgeshire, after he approached her and she texted British Transport Police who sent officers to the next stop, Stevenage.

There they saw someone matching the defendant’s description get off around 150ft from them and go across the tracks but they decided not to follow him because of the risk posed by passing trains, Mr Paxton said.

‘It’s likely this person, dressed all in black, was the defendant,’ the prosecutor added.

Williams went on to steal a pack of kitchen knives from an Asda store in the town, which the jury was told he had admitted.

Later that night, the court heard, 17-year-old Isaiah Idris was attacked on a DLR train but escaped when it pulled in at Pontoon Dock station.

The teenager said his attacker ‘sliced my face’ and hands as he tried to defend himself and repeatedly asked: ‘Are you beefing with the devil?’ 

Mr Idris, who is now 18, had surgery on his hand and was discharged from hospital after four days.

In footage of the incident shown to the jury, the defendant can be seen standing up and walking along the carriage, taking an object from his right pocket as he moved. 

A second camera taken from a different angle showed a clearer image of what appeared to be a knife. 

The defendant approached an unseen individual and can be seen shouting at them before appearing to jab the object forward in front of him. He is then seen putting it swiftly back into his pocket.

The court then heard Williams had admitted common assault in relation to a subsequent incident in the early hours of November 1 as he travelled back home to Peterborough on a train and spat at a passenger, Jordan Morley.

The defendant later called his bank, Capital One, to say he had lost his debit card before setting off again at 6.16pm and went to Peterborough train station where he boarded the LNER service at 7.26pm, which made its unscheduled stop at Huntingdon at 7.44pm.

‘In those 15 or so minutes, this defendant, armed with a knife, caused terror and fear on an unimaginable scale,’ Mr Paxton said.

He added: ‘Those on the train posed no threat to the defendant and, even if the defendant viewed them as the devil as he suggested to Isaiah Idris earlier that day, it does not give the defendant any lawful reason to attack any one of those passengers.’

Describing the moments before the attacks began, Mr Paxton told the jury Williams was ‘talking and gesticulating with his hands and swigging alcohol from a bottle. There are times when the defendant appears to be unsteady on his feet.’

The first victim, Jonathan Gjoshe, was ‘stabbed a number of times’ around the upper right arm and chest before jumping over a table to get away and screaming at fellow passengers: ‘Just run, just run… I’ve been stabbed.’

Describing the pain from his injuries as ‘unreal’, he asked medics at Huntingdon station: ‘Am I going to die today or not?’

Williams next moved on to Sachin Balakrishnan and ‘tried multiple times’ to stab him, with the jury told ‘it was only his reflexes that saved him.’

Mr Balakrishnan, who had been speaking to his partner on the phone, fled from the ‘hand-to-hand fighting’, warning others: ‘Everyone, there’s a guy with a knife.’

He suffered a wound to his right forearm and another to his chest, which punctured his left lung and was about an inch-and-a-half from his heart, Mr Paxton said.

The trial, which is due to last six weeks, continues.