Passengers on a train where a man was stabbed multiple times initially thought he was joking when he warned them to run, a court has heard. The shocking details emerged during the trial of Anthony Williams, 33, who is accused of stabbing 10 people on a train that made an emergency stop in Huntingdon, Cambridgeshire, on 1 November last year.
Victim's Ordeal
Cambridge Crown Court was shown CCTV footage of the attack on the York to London King's Cross LNER service. The first victim, Jonathan Gjoshe, described how he initially thought Williams was someone he knew. "I've made eye contact with him… he's pulled a knife, but I just think it was the way he's poked me, the way he's stabbed me, it was a bit weird because it was slow," Gjoshe said in a video interview played to the jury.
Gjoshe recounted how he felt a shock and then adrenaline kicked in. He jumped over the train table and realized his arm was drenched in blood. He then went through the carriage warning people, but some remained seated, thinking it was a joke. "It was like a movie, it was quite horrific," he added. He spent four days in hospital and asked staff, "am I going to die today or not? please tell me this."
Chaos on Board
Another victim, Sachin Balakrishnan, described hearing screaming and seeing people jumping over seats. He then saw a man with a "big knife" who was saying something but nothing meaningful. "I ran and ran and ran," Balakrishnan said. "This guy was running behind me, there was nowhere to go. Nowhere was safe." He felt pain in his right arm and initially thought he was alright, but then noticed his top getting wet, which he thought might have been his drink.
Williams, of Langford Road in Peterborough, denies 10 counts of attempted murder on the train, as well as four other alleged attempted murders in earlier incidents in Peterborough and London. The court has heard that on 31 October, he allegedly tried to kill three people in Peterborough, and in the early hours of 1 November, attempted to murder a teenager on a DLR train in east London.
The prosecution alleges that Williams carried out the attacks, but the jury must decide whether he intended to kill. The trial continues.
