The short version
- Passengers on a train from Peterborough to London reportedly remained seated during an attack, believing the victim’s warnings were part of a joke.
- The defendant denies ten counts of attempted murder regarding the incident, with prosecutors arguing he intended to kill despite his actions appearing slow or unusual.
- The trial also addresses separate alleged attacks in Peterborough and London occurring within a 24-hour period before the train violence.
A court hearing into a violent attack on a commuter train has revealed that several passengers initially failed to flee when a man began stabbing others, believing the situation was not genuine. The incident occurred on November 1 of last year aboard an LNER service traveling from York to London King's Cross, which made an unscheduled stop in Huntingdon, Cambridgeshire. Anthony Williams, 33, stands accused of attempting to murder ten people during this event. He also faces charges related to four other alleged attempted murders that took place in Peterborough and London shortly before the train attack.
Jurors at Cambridge Crown Court viewed CCTV footage of the assault and heard testimony from Jonathan Gjoshe, the first person stabbed. Gjoshe described being on his phone in carriage J when he made eye contact with Williams. He noted that the manner in which Williams used the knife seemed unusual to him, describing the motion as slow and weird. This perception contributed to a delay in his reaction, as he initially thought the attacker might be someone he knew or that the interaction was not serious.
Gjoshe stated that it was only after feeling a physical shock that adrenaline took over, prompting him to jump over the train table. He described his arm as being drenched with blood and recounted moving through the carriage urging others to run by shouting that he had been stabbed. Despite these urgent warnings, Gjoshe told the court that some passengers remained seated, interpreting the scene as a joke or a prank rather than a life-threatening emergency. He later spent four days in the hospital, where he repeatedly asked staff whether he was going to die.
The prosecution presented video interviews with other victims to illustrate the chaos and confusion of the moment. Sachin Balakrishnan, another passenger in the same carriage, described hearing screaming and seeing people attempting to jump over seats. He recalled a man wielding a large knife who was speaking but not saying anything meaningful. Balakrishnan said he ran for his life, feeling that nowhere was safe, before realizing his own top was getting wet with blood. He initially suspected it might be from a drink rather than an injury.
A central issue in the trial is not whether Williams carried out the attacks, which the court has been told is not in dispute, but whether he possessed the intent to kill. Prosecutors are arguing that his actions demonstrate such intent, while the defense may point to the unusual nature of the assault and the victims' initial reactions as evidence against premeditated murder. Gjoshe noted that Williams appeared to have consumed alcohol before the attack and maintained a pure, straight face with no visible emotion during the stabbing.
The charges extend beyond the train incident. Prosecutors allege that on October 31, Williams attempted to kill three people in Peterborough. Additionally, he is accused of attempting to murder a teenager in the early hours of November 1 on a Docklands Light Railway train in east London. These earlier incidents form part of a pattern of violence that jurors are asked to consider when determining Williams' state of mind and intentions during the subsequent attack on the mainline train.
The case highlights the complex psychological dynamics often present in sudden public violence, where bystanders may hesitate to act due to ambiguity or disbelief. The testimony underscores how quickly a situation can escalate from confusion to terror, with victims only realizing the severity of the threat after physical harm has occurred. The court proceedings continue as jurors weigh the evidence regarding Williams' mental state and specific intentions at each stage of the alleged crimes.
As the trial progresses, further details about the sequence of events and the defendant's behavior are expected to emerge. The outcome will depend on whether the jury accepts the prosecution's argument that Williams acted with murderous intent across multiple incidents in a short timeframe. The case remains under active review by the court, with no verdict yet reached regarding the ten counts of attempted murder related to the Huntingdon train stop or the additional charges from Peterborough and London.
Sources behind this briefing
Go to the original reporting
- BBC News↗Huntingdon train attack passengers thought stabbing was a 'joke'
