Huntingdon train stabbing trial: accused asked victim 'do you want to die?'
Anthony Williams, 33, faces 14 counts of attempted murder after a knife rampage across the Halloween weekend 2025. Trial opens at Cambridge Crown Court.
'Do you want to die?': knife rampage trial opens at Cambridge Crown Court
A jury has heard that train passengers fled "in sheer terror" from a knife attacker who asked one victim "do you want to die?" during a rampage across the Halloween weekend last year, BBC News reports.
Anthony Williams, 33, of Langford Road in Peterborough, is on trial at Cambridge Crown Court accused of 14 counts of attempted murder. He denies all charges.
The prosecution alleges Williams attacked 10 passengers and crew members aboard a London-bound LNER service that was forced to make an unscheduled stop at Huntingdon, Cambridgeshire, on the evening of 1 November 2025. He is also accused of attempting to kill three people in Peterborough the day before and a boy at a London railway station during the same period.
Attacks spanning two cities and two days
Opening the prosecution case, Christopher Paxton KC told jurors that Williams had been "marauding through towns and cities, on streets and trains alike, armed with a knife" across the Halloween weekend. "He stabbed many, seeking to end their lives with deadly intention, striking out at them when they were defenceless and in fear," Paxton said.
The court heard that on 31 October, Williams allegedly attempted to murder a 14-year-old boy and Dawid Taborski on a footbridge near Henry Penn Walk in Peterborough, followed shortly afterwards by an attack on William Ogelby at the Railworld car park in the city.
Williams was then seen drinking from a bottle of alcohol outside Ritzy Barber Shop in Fletton, Peterborough, before entering the premises brandishing a knife.
He subsequently travelled to east London, where he is accused of stabbing a 17-year-old on a Docklands Light Railway train at Pontoon Dock in Silvertown in the early hours of 1 November. A witness told the jury she heard Williams repeatedly say during that attack: "Are you trying to beef with the devil?"
Passengers fought back with buffet car items
On the LNER train, Williams boarded at Peterborough. Paxton told the jury the attack that followed left passengers "fleeing and some fighting for their lives". Some locked themselves in toilets, the court heard, while others showed "extraordinary bravery" by grabbing items from the buffet car — including a toaster — to defend themselves and protect strangers.
Samir Zitouni, a member of the train's crew, attempted to use a frying pan to stop Williams but was stabbed multiple times. The named alleged victims on the train include Jonathan Gjoshe, Sachin Balakrishnan, David Presland, Scott Bletcher, Scott Green, Kevin Deely, Stephen Crean, Raza Aslam, Michael Paffett and Zitouni.
The jury was shown CCTV footage involving Presland, 73, who the prosecution said had fallen to the ground before being attacked. Paxton described the footage: "You will see a hand come up from the floor of the train — that was Mr Presland. You will see above him, all in black, the defendant wielding the knife." Presland, he said, was "defenceless and powerless" and posed no threat to Williams.
One victim attempted to grab the knife blade itself, the court heard, while another was stabbed in the head and stomach. Passenger Stephen Crean decided "he had to try to stop it" and launched himself at Williams, at which point Williams asked him: "Do you want to die?"
Paxton described that exchange as "clear evidence of the defendant's intention to kill, as was the use of the knife to stab so many". He added: "The fact that some of the victims had minor cuts or wounds, or some had no injuries at all, does not mean there was no intention to kill."
Train driver's quick thinking halted the attack
The attack on board was brought to an end only when the driver made an unscheduled stop at Huntingdon — the next station south of Peterborough — allowing passengers to escape. Paxton told the court: "The attack was stopped only by the quick thinking of the train driver."
Addressing the question of motive, Paxton said that even if Williams regarded passengers as the devil — as he suggested to the 17-year-old earlier that day — it gave him "no lawful reason to attack any one of those passengers on that LNER train".
Trial by videolink from Rampton Hospital
The jury, made up of nine men and three women, was told by the presiding judge, Mr Justice Calver, that Williams is appearing via videolink from Rampton Hospital in Nottinghamshire rather than in the dock. The judge said this arrangement would "best ensure his effective participation in the trial" and avoid a four-hour round trip to court.
The trial continues. Whether Williams carried out the attacks is not in dispute; jurors must determine whether he intended to kill the individuals involved at the time of each attack.
Source: BBC News