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Trial date set for man accused of train stabbings

Mousumi Bakshi,at Cambridge Crown Courtand
Robbie Kalus
Getty Images Black-clad police officers and emergency crews wearing green-and-yellow coveralls and helmets on the platform of Huntingdon railway station, where a train has stopped.Getty Images
Emergency crews and police met the train at Huntingdon railway station in Cambridgeshire after 999 calls from those on board

A man accused of the attempted murders of 10 people during a mass stabbing on a train in Cambridgeshire is due to stand trial in October.

People on board the LNER service from Doncaster to London King's Cross were seriously injured shortly after the train left Peterborough on Saturday, 1 November. Armed police met the train when it made an unscheduled stop at Huntingdon.

Anthony Williams, 32, from Langford Road in Peterborough, is charged with a total of 13 counts of attempted murder, which also relate to other alleged attacks in Peterborough and east London prior to the train incident.

At Cambridge Crown Court, Judge Mark Bishop moved a provisional trial date from June to 26 October.

Reuters A forensic officer in a white suit bending over and pointing their camera at the platform. On the platform are scattered possessions. Three police officers are in the foreground. Reuters
Emergency services spent most of Sunday, 2 November at Huntingdon railway station

Passengers and staff on the 18:25 from Doncaster raised the alarm and Williams was arrested at Huntingdon.

His trial date had originally been set for 22 June, but Judge Bishop agreed that that date could no longer be met as the courts waited for further reports.

Williams faces a total of 21 charges.

Huntingdon charges:

  • Attempted murder of 10 people who were on the train
  • Possessing a bladed article
  • Actual bodily harm in connection with the alleged assault of a police officer while in custody

Other charges:

  • One count of attempted murder and possessing a bladed article after a man suffered facial injuries at the Pontoon Dock DLR station in Silvertown, east London, in the early hours of 1 November
  • Attempted murder of a 14-year-old boy at Henry Penn Walk in Peterborough city centre on 31 October
  • Attempted murder of a 22-year-old man at Rail World Car Park in Peterborough on 31 October
  • Attempted wounding with intent of a 28-year-old man at Henry Penn Walk in Peterborough on 31 October
  • Possession of a bladed instrument in a public place at Henry Penn Walk
  • Affray in connection with an alleged incident at Ritzy Barbers in Queen's Walk, Fletton in Peterborough on 31 October
  • Theft of knives from an Asda supermarket in Stevenage on 31 October
  • Common assault of a 31-year-old man on a train travelling between Hitchin in Hertfordshire and Biggleswade in Bedfordshire on 1 November

All 11 people who received treatment at Addenbrooke's Hospital in Cambridge after the Huntingdon train incident have since been discharged.

The defendant did not appear in court for the latest hearing and he remained remanded in custody.

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