Anthony Williams, 32, has been charged after a mass stabbing aboard a high-speed train bound for London left 10 people injured, some critically. The attack occurred Saturday evening and has prompted a wider investigation into several additional knife incidents in the days leading up to the assault.
Williams appeared in Peterborough Magistrate’s Court on Monday facing 11 counts of attempted murder, one count of actual bodily harm, and two counts of possessing a bladed article. The charges relate to the train attack as well as a separate stabbing earlier that day at Pontoon Dock station on London’s Docklands Light Railway, where a man suffered facial injuries.
Police are now examining whether Williams may have also been responsible for other violent incidents in the area. These include two separate instances where a knife was brandished at a barber shop in Peterborough on Friday and the stabbing of a 14-year-old boy in the town center. In both barber shop incidents, officers were called but failed to identify a suspect. Response delays and investigative lapses have led Cambridgeshire Police to refer themselves to the Independent Office for Police Conduct.
During the train attack, witnesses reported Williams walking through carriages stabbing passengers at random. One victim, a member of the railway staff, was seriously injured while attempting to stop the attacker. Passengers reported hearing the man say “Do you want to die?” and “The devil is not going to win” as he carried out the assault.
The rapid police response was aided by the fact that the train was stopped at Huntingdon railway station, located just yards from Cambridgeshire Police headquarters. Armed officers reached the scene within minutes and took Williams into custody.
The government confirmed that Williams was not known to counter-terrorism police, and authorities are not treating the train attack as terrorism. However, the scale and randomness of the violence have raised concerns about whether prior incidents were properly investigated.
Police are now reviewing all related cases and continuing to gather CCTV and forensic evidence as the investigation expands. The severity of the charges and the possibility of additional offenses underscore growing alarm over public safety on the UK’s transit systems.
