Stabbed boy felt train attacker 'was not sane'

A 14-year-old boy stabbed by a man who went on to attack people on a train said he did not feel the knifeman was "mentally sane", a court heard.

The teenager was attacked in Peterborough the day before Anthony Williams is accused of trying to kill 10 people on a train that had to make an emergency stop in Huntingdon in November 2025.

In a video recorded interview played to jurors at Cambridge Crown Court, the boy said: "This random guy… he just pulled out a knife and stabbed me."

Williams, 33, of Langford Road in Peterborough, denies 14 counts of attempted murder - four of which concern attacks prior to the mass train stabbing.

The boy, who cannot be named because of his age, was about to go trick or treating with a friend at the time of the attack, while they waited on a footbridge over the River Nene.

He felt the knife had probably been drawn from the attacker's waistband and said "because I was closest to him, he's just stabbed me".

"I didn't feel like he was mentally sane. His eyes were wide open like he was on something," he said.

"My friend said he was shouting something like 'are you involved?'."

"When he stabbed me, it's like he was there for a knife fight. Like he was waiting for me to pull out something."

The teenager said he had "so much adrenaline" that it felt "like a poke in the chest".

The jury heard the pair ran away and hid in some bushes, where they called the police.

Three of the attacks were in Peterborough on 31 October - the 14-year-old boy and Dawid Taborski on the footbridge near Henry Penn Walk in Peterborough, and William Ogelby at Railworld car park in the city shortly afterwards.

During the prosecution opening, jurors were told Williams "has some mental health issues which may or may not become relevant during this trial".

The trial has been told that whether Williams carried out the attacks is not in question, but jurors must consider whether he intended to kill those individuals.

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

As well as the attacks in Peterborough, he is accused of attempting to murder a teenager on a Docklands Light Railway train in London in the early hours of 1 November.

The trial continues.

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