Huntingdon train attacker asked man 'do you want to die?', trial hears

Train passengers fled "in sheer terror" from a knife attacker who asked one victim "do you want to die?", a trial has heard.

Jurors were shown CCTV footage of passenger Stephen Crean attempting to disarm Anthony Williams during the attack on the Doncaster to King's Cross train at Huntingdon on 1 November last year.

Opening the prosecution case at Cambridge Crown Court, Christopher Paxton KC said that of those on the train "some stood tall, to protect others trying to de-escalate his rampage".

Williams, 33, is accused of attempting to murder 10 train passengers and staff. He is also accused of trying to kill three people in Peterborough the day before and then a boy at a London railway station.

Williams, of Langford Road in Peterborough, denies 14 counts of attempted murder.

He is accused of attempting to murder Jonathan Gjoshe, Sachin Balakrishnan, David Presland, Scott Bletcher, Scott Green, Kevin Deely, Stephen Crean, Raza Aslam, Michael Paffett and Samir Zitouni on the train between Peterborough and Huntingdon on that Saturday evening.

He is also accused of attempting to murder a 14-year-old boy and Dawid Taborski on a footbridge near Henry Penn Walk in Peterborough on 31 October, and William Ogelby at Railworld car park in the city shortly afterwards.

Williams was then seen swigging from a bottle of alcohol outside Ritzy Barber Shop in Fletton in Peterborough, before going into the shop brandishing a knife.

The jury heard he then travelled to east London, where he stabbed a 17-year-old on a Docklands Light Railway train at Pontoon Dock in Silvertown in the early hours of 1 November.

During that attack, jurors were told a witness said she heard the defendant repeatedly say: "Are you trying to beef with the devil?"

Paxton said Williams had "brought terror" to train passengers after boarding at Peterborough, "which resulted in them fleeing and some fighting for their lives".

"In the face of that threat and the defendant's sheer brutality some stood tall to protect others trying to de-escalate his rampage, defending themselves and putting themselves in harm's way to protect strangers," he said.

He added that some had locked themselves in toilets, and others showed "extraordinary bravery" in trying to fend Williams off by grabbing items such as a toaster from the buffet car to protect themselves.

Samir Zitouni, a member of the train's crew, tried to use a frying pan to stop Williams, but was stabbed multiple times, the court heard.

Paxton said "the attack was stopped only by the quick thinking of the train driver", with the London-bound LNER service making an unscheduled stop at Huntingdon - the next station south from Peterborough.

He said "even if the defendant viewed them as the devil, as he suggested to [the 17-year-old] earlier that day, it does not give the defendant, Mr Williams, any lawful reason to attack any one of those passengers on that LNER train".

The jury, consisting of three women and nine men, were told by the judge Mr Justice Calver that Williams was appearing via videolink from Rampton Hospital in Nottinghamshire, rather than sitting in the dock.

He said it would "best ensure his effective participation in the trial", and would avoid a four-hour round trip to court.

The trial continues.