Anthony Williams, 33, denied 10 counts of attempted murder on Tuesday in connection with a stabbing incident on an LNER train traveling from Doncaster to London’s King’s Cross on November 1.
The train made an unscheduled stop in Huntingdon, Cambridgeshire, following numerous emergency calls. Williams also pleaded not guilty to 11 other charges, encompassing four additional counts of attempted murder, stemming from separate incidents that occurred on the two days prior to and the day after the train event.
Williams, currently held at Rampton Secure Hospital in Nottinghamshire, appeared at Cambridge Crown Court via video-link. He entered his pleas of not guilty to all charges.
The defendant was arrested at Huntingdon station by armed police after they were alerted to reports of an incident on the 6:25 p.m. LNER service. He was subsequently charged with the attempted murder of nine passengers and a train buffet worker.
Among the other charges from November 1 that Williams denies are attempted murder and possession of a bladed article. These relate to an incident in the early hours at Pontoon Dock DLR station in London, where a victim sustained facial injuries. He also denied assaulting a man on a King’s Cross to Peterborough train and possessing a bladed article on a train between Peterborough and Huntingdon on the same day.
Furthermore, Williams pleaded not guilty to the attempted murders of a 14-year-old boy, a 22-year-old man, and a 28-year-old man in Peterborough on October 31. Additional charges from that date in Peterborough include affray at a barbershop and two counts of possessing a bladed article in a public place near Henry Penn Walk, the Rail World car park, and Queen’s Walk.
He also denies the theft of a pack of knives from an Asda store in Stevenage on October 31. The final count he denied was assault occasioning actual bodily harm for an alleged attack on a police officer while in custody on November 2.
Judge Mark Bishop remanded Williams in custody until his trial, which is estimated to last between six and eight weeks. The trial is scheduled to begin on October 26. A further case management hearing will take place on October 2.
