Man pleads guilty to Huntingdon mass train stabbings but denies attempted murder
A man accused of a mass stabbing on a train in Cambridgeshire, and separate attacks earlier that day and the day before, has pleaded guilty to 12 counts of wounding with intent and two of attempting to wound with intent.
Anthony Williams, 33, denies 14 counts of attempted murder and is due to stand trial next week.
At a pre-trial review hearing at Cambridge Crown Court on Monday, Williams pleaded guilty to 14 new counts, 12 of wounding with intent and two of attempting to wound with intent.
He was also rearraigned on seven counts to which he had previously pleaded not guilty.
On Monday, Williams pleaded guilty to affray at a barber shop in Peterborough on October 31 and the theft of knives from an Asda store in Stevenage on October 31.
He pleaded guilty to possessing a bladed article in a public place at a footbridge near Henry Penn Walk, the Rail World car park and Queen’s Walk in Peterborough on October 31.
He admitted possession of a bladed article at Pontoon Dock DLR station in London in the early hours of November 1.
Williams pleaded guilty to a common assault on a Govia Thames Link train travelling between St Pancras station and Biggleswade station on November 1.
He pleaded guilty to possession of a knife on a train between Peterborough and Huntingdon on November 1.
He also pleaded guilty to the assault occasioning actual bodily harm of a male police officer in custody on November 2.
Williams, who appeared at Monday’s hearing on a video-link from custody, entered pleas of not guilty at an earlier hearing to 10 counts of attempted murder after several people were stabbed on an LNER train from Doncaster to London on the evening of November 1 last year.
He denies one count of attempted murder over an incident at Pontoon Dock DLR station in London on November 1.
He also denies the attempted murders of a 14-year-old boy, a 22-year-old man, and a 28-year-old man in Peterborough on October 31.
Prosecutor Christopher Paxton KC said: “Those guilty pleas do not resolve the indictment so there will be a trial.”
The judge, Mr Justice Calver, said Williams would stand trial in relation to the remaining counts from Monday, October 26.
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