Police are investigating whether the man accused of trying to kill 10 people during the Huntingdon train attack is linked to a string of knife incidents in the hours before the bloody rampage.
Anthony Williams, 32, was charged on Monday morning with 10 counts of attempted murder after an attack on an LNER train to London King’s Cross on Saturday evening.
He has also been charged with one count of attempted murder over an incident at Pontoon Dock DLR station in London in the early hours of Saturday, where a victim was slashed in the face with a knife.
Detectives are now also investigating whether the suspect is linked to another three knife incidents which took place in Peterborough in the run-up to the Saturday attack.
Cambridgeshire Police said a 14-year-old boy was stabbed on Friday evening in the city centre. He was taken to hospital and was said to have suffered minor injuries.
Fifteen minutes later, a knifeman entered a barber’s in Fletton, Peterborough, although the incident was only reported to police two hours later.
A second report of a knifeman at the same barber’s shop was made at 9.25am the next day. When police arrived 18 minutes later, officers could not find the suspect at the scene.
The three terrifying incidents will form part of the British Transport Police’s investigation into the Huntingdon train horror, detectives said on Monday.
On Monday, Cambridgeshire Police confirmed it referred itself to the Independent Office for Police Conduct watchdog in relation to the incidents in Peterborough, but the organisation said it did not meet the criteria for a referral.
The fresh scope of the probe came as dramatic new details emerged about how the horrific attack on board the busy train in Cambridgeshire unfolded.
Dozens of travellers were forced to barricade themselves in carriages and try to shield themselves from the brutal stabbings.
Stephen Creen, 61, described how he was stabbed six times after he confronted the attacker, armed with nothing but his fists.
The Nottingham Forest supporter said he was returning back from a match when he heard a carriage door open and people running and shouting “run, run, run, man’s got knife”.
“They had all packed into the buffet car and the toilets and locked the doors, as you do, and so that was it for me,” he told The Telegraph.
“He came towards me and said to me, ‘Do you want to die?’. That’s what he said.”
Mr Creen said he was stabbed numerous times, including in his left hand, back, bottom and head. He managed to escape the attacker by crawling into an empty toilet and locking the door before the train arrived at Huntingdon station.
Passengers had pulled the emergency alarms on the LNER service and it was diverted to Huntingdon, where the suspect was arrested.
Scunthorpe United player Jonathan Gjoshe was also one of the victims affected by the train attack on Saturday, the club has confirmed.
In a post on X, the club said he sustained non-life-threatening injuries as a result of the attack, but remains in hospital.
An LNER staff member is in a critical but stable condition in hospital following the stabbings on the high-speed service, while four other people remain in hospital.
Williams appeared in the dock at Peterborough Magistrates’ Court in handcuffs with four security officers alongside him on Monday and spoke softly to confirm his name, age and address.
He was not asked to enter pleas and when asked his address, he mumbled: “No fixed abode.”
According to court documents, he allegedly used a “large kitchen knife” in both the London and Huntingdon attacks.
Williams also faced a charge of assault, which relates to him allegedly attacking a male police officer in custody after being arrested, leaving him with a broken nose, the court heard.
District judge Ken Sheraton remanded Williams into custody to appear at Cambridge Crown Court on 1 December.
It is understood he is not known to the security services or counter-terrorism policing, and had not been referred to the government’s anti-extremism scheme Prevent.
Transport Secretary Heidi Alexander said there would be an increase in visible police patrols at stations but insisted public transport was safe.
Armed police were seen patrolling busy London stations, including King’s Cross on Monday morning.
The prime minister ruled out installing airport-style scanners in train stations, saying it would not be “proportionate or practical”.
Sir Keir Starmer’s official spokesperson said the government “takes all acts of crime extremely seriously on our railways and on our public transport network”, adding: “It’s important to strike a balance between the impact on the rail network and passengers’ journeys.”
