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A recent trial at Cambridge Crown Court has revealed harrowing details of a violent knife attack on a train, where passengers fled “in sheer terror.” The defendant, Anthony Williams, 33, stands accused of attempting to murder multiple individuals across several incidents over two days. The most serious charges relate to an attack on a train traveling between Peterborough and Huntingdon, Cambridgeshire, on 1 November 2025, where Williams allegedly targeted ten passengers and staff. Additional charges stem from attacks in Peterborough the day before, as well as an assault on a teenage boy at a London railway station.
Christopher Paxton KC, leading the prosecution, described how amid the chaos on the train, some passengers bravely tried to intervene. He explained that “some stood tall, to protect others trying to de-escalate his rampage.” Williams, originally from Langford Road, Peterborough, denies fourteen counts of attempted murder brought against him. The prosecution alleges that Williams attacked Jonathan Gjoshe, Sachin Balakrishnan, David Presland, Scott Bletcher, Scott Green, Kevin Deely, Stephen Crean, Raza Aslam, Michael Paffett, and Samir Zitouni during the train journey.
The court also heard that the day before the train incident, Williams is accused of attacking a 14-year-old boy and Dawid Taborski on a footbridge in Peterborough, followed by an assault on William Ogelby at the Railworld car park in the same city. Further, Williams was seen drinking from a bottle of alcohol outside a barbershop in Fletton, Peterborough, before entering the shop wielding a knife. The series of attacks continued the following day in London, where he stabbed a 17-year-old on a Docklands Light Railway train in Silvertown. A witness during that incident recalled Williams repeatedly asking, “Are you trying to beef with the devil?”
Among the evidence presented to the jury was footage showing the attack on 73-year-old David Presland, who was assaulted after falling to the floor of the train. Paxton pointed out that jurors would see “a hand come up from the floor of the train – that was Mr Presland. You will see above him, all in black, the defendant wielding the knife.” The elderly victim was described as “defenceless and powerless” and posed no threat to Williams. It was also revealed that while one victim attempted to grab the knife blade, another suffered stab wounds to the head and stomach. One passenger, Stephen Crean, reportedly “had to try to stop it” and “launched himself towards and at Mr Williams,” at which point Williams allegedly asked him, “do you want to die?”
Paxton argued this was clear evidence of Williams’ intent to kill, emphasizing that “The fact that some of the victims had minor cuts or wounds, or some had no injuries at all, does not mean there was no intention to kill.” The prosecution also credited the quick thinking of the train driver for halting Williams’ spree by making an emergency stop at Huntingdon station, one stop south of Peterborough. Paxton underlined that even if Williams had perceived his victims as “the devil,” this did not justify his actions, stating, “it does not give the defendant, Mr Williams, any lawful reason to attack any one of those passengers on that LNER train.”
At the time of the trial, Williams appeared remotely via videolink from Rampton Hospital in Nottinghamshire instead of being physically present in the courtroom. The presiding judge, Mr Justice Calver, explained this arrangement was made to “best ensure his effective participation in the trial” and to avoid the lengthy travel time to court. The case continues to unfold, with the jury composed of three women and nine men deliberating over the serious allegations against Williams
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