A 14-year-old boy stabbed by a man who went on to commit a mass stabbing on a train said he was staring at him with his ‘eyes wide open’ as he screamed ‘Are you involved, are you involved?’, a court heard today.
asserted
court → stab → him
The teenager was going trick or treating with a friend when Anthony Williams ‘just pulled out a knife and stabbed me’.
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Williams → go → me
The terrified pair ran away and hid in bushes where they remained until police arrived after they made a 999 call.
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they → run → call
The incident on a footbridge over the River Nene in Peterborough, Cambridgeshire, was the first of 14 assaults by Williams during a Halloween weekend rampage that ended with ten attacks on a train.
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that → end → train
Cambridge Crown Court has heard that he admits 12 charges of wounding with intent and two of attempted wounding with intent but denies 14 counts of attempted murder.
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he → hear → murder
The boy described in a police interview how he was with his friend on the evening of October 31 last year when ‘some random guy I’d literally never seen in my life just pulls out a knife and stabs me’.
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I → describe → me
Anthony Williams, 33, is seen in moving through the carriages on board the LNER train in footage shown to jurors
The ten-inch black knife was pulled from Williams’ waistband, he said, adding: ‘He was screaming something.
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He → see → something
My friend said it was something like “Are you involved, are you involved?” or something.
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you → say → ?
I don’t think he was well.
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he → think → ?
‘We just ran away.
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We → run → ?
Because I had so much adrenalin I only thought someone had poked me in the chest.
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someone → have → chest
‘We ran into some bushes.
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We → run → bushes
My friend was saying “Call the police, call the police”.
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friend → say → police
I was saying I think I’ve been stabbed.’
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I → say → ?
The boy told the interviewing officer that the force of the blow to his chest was ‘strong – it pushed me back a bit.
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it → tell → me
He was using his full force’.
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He → use → force
Jurors have been told of the terror – and moments of astonishing bravery – on display the following day as Williams marched through a succession of carriages on a Doncaster to London LNER service using a knife to attack people, leaving some with grievous injuries.
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Williams → tell → injuries
Williams is accused of attempting to murder 10 people on Doncaster to London LNER service and another four from the preceding day
LNER worker Samir Zitouni is seen wielding a frying pan as he attempts to stop train knifeman Anthony Williams
A number of brave passengers and a member of staff tried to stand up to him during the ‘storm of violence’.
Train worker Samir Zitouni attempting to stop him with a 'defensive blockade' of items including a frying pan and a toaster.
He then organised a group of ‘big, strong men’ before waving a pan at him but was subjected to an attack described as 'prolonged, persistent and brutal'.
Footage played in court from when the train eventually stopped showed him staggering down the platform in his blood-soaked shirt before falling against a carriage and down on to the tracks.
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him → accuse → tracks
His injuries from multiple wounds included partially collapsed lungs and an injured spleen.
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injuries → include → lungs
Football fan Stephen Crean bravely 'whispered to those in the café bar to shut the door and went towards the defendant' despite being unarmed, the court was told.
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court → whisper → defendant
Williams – who asked him ‘do you want to die?’ - stabbed him several times in the head, upper and lower back, fingers and hip during the 'one-sided' attack.
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you → ask → attack
Some on board the train spoke of the defendant rambling on about the ‘devil’ and ‘power’ and warning: ‘Everyone’s gonna die today.’
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Everyone → speak → devil
Car delivery driver Raza Aslam described how he heard the defendant had 'the greatest delight on his face, I saw his eyes expand with pleasure'.
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eyes → describe → pleasure
The Halloween mayhem began with the stabbing of the 14-year-old boy, who can't be named for legal reasons, on the evening of October 31 last year.
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who → begin → October
Two men – Dawid Taborski and William Ogelby – were attacked nearby minutes later, although they avoided injury.
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they → attack → injury
A 17-year-old was next stabbed in the face while travelling on the Docklands Light Railway in east London at Pontoon Dock in the early hours of November 1.
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old → stab → November
Williams then boarded the LNER train in his home town of Peterborough at 7.26pm that evening, clutching a 'large kitchen knife and a bottle of fortified tonic wine' before starting the mass stabbing.
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Williams → board → stabbing
The moment Williams was arrested by officers was captured in bodycam footage
Describing passengers' responses when the attack began, Mr Paxton said: 'In sheer terror, the train passengers ran for their lives, hiding away in locked toilets, store cabinets, or under seats until many fleeing the defendant literally ran out of train.
'
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many → arrest → train
Trapped and facing the defendant, who had been wielding, slashing out and stabbing with his knife, some sought to defend themselves and others on the train, showing extraordinary bravery in the face of the defendant's onslaught, picking up frying pans or toasters to keep the defendant back, even trying to de-escalate the situation by asking him why was he doing it and telling him that they loved him.
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they → trap → him
'But to no avail, the defendant continued his knife attack – slashing out and stabbing those around him.'
Horrifying footage played in court showed dozens of passengers wrapped in coats and hats fleeing down carriages as Williams approached them.
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Williams → continue → them
The bloody onslaught ended when the 'quick thinking' train driver hurriedly arranged an unscheduled stop at Huntingdon in Cambridgeshire.
The defendant, who is appearing in court via videolink from Rampton Hospital in Nottinghamshire, was seen in bodycam footage being arrested by armed police who disabled him with a taser.
Passengers are seen running down a platform after the train made an unscheduled stop at Huntingdon station last year
He was checked at hospital before being taken to a police station in Cambridge, although he was deemed not fit to be interviewed by officers.
While in custody, he punched a PC on the nose – leading to a charge of causing actual bodily harm, which the court heard he has admitted.
Prosecutor Chris Paxton KC told the jury that the defendant has 'some mental health issues which may or may not become relevant during this trial'.
But one train passenger, Michael Paffett, who suffered a deep wound to his face, described how Williams ordered him to stay in a carriage after attacking him, saying: ‘I don’t want you behind me.’
The prosecution say this showed that he was ‘functioning, responding and reactive to those around him’.
Mr Paxton added: 'There is no issue in this case as to who is responsible for these attacks.
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who → end → attacks
The defendant accepts he carried out these attacks.
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he → accept → attacks
The issue in this case, so far as the attempted murder counts are concerned, relates primarily to the defendant's intention – whether he had an intention to kill as we, the prosecution, say he had.'
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he → attempt → intention
The trial continues.
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trial → continue → ?
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