Knifeman on LNER train ‘caused terror and fear on unimaginable scale’, court hears

A knifeman “caused terror and fear on an unimaginable scale” to passengers when he stabbed 10 people on a London-bound train, a court has heard.

Anthony Williams, 33, is accused of attempting to murder 10 passengers and staff on an LNER train on 1 November last year and stabbing four people in the 24 hours before.

Christopher Paxton KC told jurors at Cambridge crown court on Wednesday: “The defendant, Mr Williams, armed with a knife, caused terror and fear on an unimaginable scale, moving up and down a busy train from which there was no escape, stabbing several people as he did so.”

During his opening statement, Paxton showed a CCTV clip of a passenger, Stephen Crean, attempting to wrestle a knife from Williams. He said Williams asked Crean: “Do you want to die?”

“We say, clear evidence of the defendant’s intention to kill, as was the use of the knife to stab so many, and to stab and cut Mr Crean in his hand, head and lower back,” Paxton said.

Paxton described the “terror” of the attack, which led some train passengers to run “for their lives” and hide away in toilets, store cabinets and under seats.

The prosecutor also praised the “extraordinary bravery” of the passengers who tried to wrestle the knife off Williams.

This included Scott Green, who was stabbed while he attempted to grab the knife from Williams. A member of the train crew, Samir Zitouni, was also stabbed multiple times as he tried to use a frying pan to stop Williams, jurors heard.

“In the face of that threat and the defendant’s sheer brutality some stood tall to protect others trying to de-escalate his rampage, defending themselves and putting themselves in harm’s way to protect strangers,” Paxton said.

Paxton also praised the train driver for his decision to make an emergency stop in Huntingdon.

Williams, of no fixed abode, previously admitted a series of offences, including the wounding of 12 people, but denies 14 counts of attempted murder.

Paxton told the court Williams posed a “dangerous threat” to the people he encountered before the train attack on the evening of 1 November.

Jurors heard Williams had approached a 17-year-old boy on the Docklands Light Railway in London in the early hours of 1 November and asked him if he was “beefing the devil” before he knifed him in the face and hand.

Williams also attacked three people in Peterborough on the evening of 31 October, the court heard, including a 14-year-old boy.

“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 said.

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