Some passengers aboard a train where a man allegedly stabbed 10 people initially remained in their seats, believing the attacker was joking, a court has been told. The incident occurred on November 1, last year, on an LNER service traveling from York to London King's Cross, which made an unscheduled stop in Huntingdon, Cambridgeshire.
Anthony Williams, 33, denies 10 counts of attempted murder, as well as four other alleged attempted murders from earlier incidents. Jurors at Cambridge Crown Court have viewed CCTV footage of the attack, which took place after the train had departed Peterborough.
The first victim, Jonathan Gjoshe, testified that he was on his phone in carriage J when Williams approached. "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 told the court. He recalled that once he felt the impact, "adrenalin kicked in" and he ran through the carriage shouting "I've been stabbed, run." Despite his cries, Gjoshe stated that some people "remained sitting down, thinking it was a joke."
He described the scene as "like a movie, it was quite horrific." Gjoshe spent four days in the hospital and recalled asking medical staff, "am I going to die today or not? please tell me this."
According to police statements, Gjoshe felt the attacker "definitely had a few drinks before" and approached him with a "pure straight face, showing no emotion." The court also heard details of earlier alleged attempted murders in Peterborough and London prior to the train incident.