Man attacks passengers on London-bound train, court hears details

A knifeman who stabbed ten people on a London-bound train challenged passengers to fight him, asking, “Who is man enough to take me on?” a court heard. Passenger Raza Aslam said the attack began shortly after the LNER service left Peterborough and was heading towards Huntingdon. He recalled a man bursting through a carriage door shouting, “Everybody run,” and described the panic among travelers.

Aslam said he assisted a mother and child who locked themselves in a toilet but chose to stay outside, stating he “couldn’t live with the fact I was hiding in the toilet and something was happening outside.” He described train crew member Samir Zitouni as being “cut up like he’s been fighting with Wolverine” while trying to fend off Williams, and noted that a frying pan was handed to Zitouni as he gathered objects to stop the attacker.

“I didn’t anticipate that he was strategically minded,” Aslam told jurors, adding that the stabbing felt like a “surgical strike” and that Williams appeared calm and without sweat.

Other passengers recounted their attempts to intervene. Stephen Crean said Williams approached him and asked, “Do you want to die?” before pulling a blade, and Crean suffered cuts to his fingers while trying to seize the knife. Michael Paffett reported that passengers overturned a catering trolley and that a man threw a full-sized toaster at the attacker.

CCTV and mobile-phone footage shown in court captured Williams walking through a carriage with a knife and drinking from a bottle. Williams denies the charges of attempted murder for the ten train victims, three alleged attempts in Peterborough, and an alleged attempt on a 17-year-old at Pontoon Dock DLR station. Judge Mr Justice Calver instructed jurors that while the fact of Williams’s involvement was not in dispute, they must consider whether he intended to kill. The trial is ongoing.