Barking dog saved train passenger from knifeman with 'greatest delight on his face', court told

A train passenger’s barking dog saved the day for him by apparently causing a “marauding” knifeman to run away, as another traveller said the attacker who stabbed 10 people on the service had the “greatest delight on his face”, a court heard.

Raza Aslam, who was travelling on the London-bound LNER service, heard people say a man was saying “the devil won’t win”, before he spotted 33-year-old Anthony Williams with a knife, Cambridge Crown Court was told on Thursday.

Prosecutor Christopher Paxton KC said car delivery driver Mr Aslam grabbed a frying pan but was stabbed in the hand by Williams on 1 November last year and felt an “immediate loss of energy from his arm”.

Mr Paxton said Samir Zitouni, who was working on the train that was stopped at Huntingdon, Cambridgeshire, responded by throwing things at the defendant and “saved” Mr Aslam’s life.

The prosecutor said Mr Aslam told police Williams “had the greatest delight on his face”.

Mr Aslam said: “I saw his eyes expand with pleasure. I saw the contempt on his face, like a person who’s high.

“He was just loving every single moment. He loved seeing us in desperation.”

Another passenger, Scott Green, was travelling with his dog Poppy when he heard something he thought was a “scrap”, Mr Paxton said.

He said Mr Green “felt a jab to his left side, then he saw a knife, then he saw the defendant”.

Mr Green told police he thought “I have to get the knife” and “I’ve gone to grab the knife, and I remember the pain”.

He said he “tried to yank it, but I couldn’t remove it” and remembered the “sharpness”.

He said his dog started barking and Williams had “done a runner and the last I saw was him running down the aisle”. Mr Paxton said it seemed that Poppy “saved the day” for Mr Green.

The prosecutor said the defendant had previously been “bitten by a dog” in an “unrelated incident”.

He said Mr Green took his dog and ran the other way along the train, and a woman took them to safety in a toilet.

The service had left Peterborough at around 7.29pm and was stopped at Huntingdon train station at 7.44pm by the “quick thinking” train driver.

Williams denies the attempted murders of 10 people on the service.

A recording of a call made by passenger Stephen Crean was played to the jury, in which he said “I need help” and “I’m scared” from a toilet he locked himself inside until police knocked on the door at Huntingdon station.

The court was shown footage of Mr Crean confronting Williams, after telling others to shut the door and stay hidden in a cafe bar area of the train, when he was stabbed to his back, hip, fingers and head.

Mr Paxton told the court: “Mr Crean had no knife, no weapon, and looked, he will tell you, the defendant in the eyes, and Mr Crean says the defendant said something he will never forget.

“It was these words, ‘Do you want to die?’”

The court heard Mr Crean, who was a Nottingham Forest fan travelling home from a game, described Williams as being on a “mission” during the attack and their interaction “was like Come Dancing, it was like we were all over the place”.

Mr Paxton said another passenger, 73-year-old David Presland, fell while trying to flee from Williams and was stabbed while on the floor.

He said Mr Presland told police: “I thought I was going to die. I’m very lucky that I’ve survived.”

The barrister said the pensioner told police he was “on his hands and knees” and “that’s when he stabbed me in the back, and that’s when I turned around in front of him, and I just looked at his face and he stabbed me under the arm”.

Mr Paxton said Mr Presland said he was helped by someone he knew as Kevin, who “we believe to be Kevin Deely, who himself was stabbed by the defendant”.

The prosecutor said: “In this storm of violence, and even when gripped by fear, many there on the train helped others and some stood tall, quite literally, against the defendant’s violent onslaught.”

The court heard another passenger, Scott Bletcher, recalled saying “I don’t think I’m going to make it” after being stabbed to his head, chest and forearm.

Mr Paxton said Mr Bletcher, who was in a window seat, was a “sitting duck for the armed defendant”.

The prosecutor said Mr Bletcher called 999 and hid in a bike rack until the train stopped.

“At that stage, Mr Bletcher will explain he felt incredibly tired, was struggling to keep his eyes open and recalls saying, and I quote, ‘I don’t think I’m going to make it’,” Mr Paxton said.

Williams also denies the attempted murders of three people in Peterborough on the evening of 31 October, and of a 17-year-old boy at Pontoon Dock DLR station in London in the early hours of 1 November.

He has admitted intending to cause harm, but denies 14 counts of attempted murder.