Victim's Cockapoo Scared Off Train Attacker, Court Hears

A passenger who was attacked during a mass stabbing on a train said the assailant fled when his cockapoo, Poppy, "jumped up and started barking really aggressively," the Cambridge Crown Court heard. Scott Green was traveling on a London-bound LNER train on November 1 last year when Anthony Williams allegedly attacked him.

CCTV footage shown to the court depicted passengers running through the train. Williams then entered carriage H and attacked Mr. Green. "He attacked me first then I saw the knife after," Mr. Green testified. He stated that he tried to defend himself and grab the knife, but released it due to its sharpness. "I don't know if he saw the dog as the dog was on my lap, but as I pulled away… I must have yelped as she's jumped up and started barking really aggressively," he recalled. Mr. Green believes the dog startled Williams, causing him to flee. "She's only a cockapoo… she's gone into attack mode."

Mr. Green's hands were bleeding heavily, and he realized he had been stabbed. He fled in the opposite direction with Poppy, and another passenger helped them to safety in a toilet.

Williams, 33, is on trial for 14 counts of attempted murder. He denies attempting to murder ten people on the train in Huntingdon, Cambridgeshire, as well as three other individuals in Peterborough on October 31 and a 17-year-old boy at Pontoon Dock DLR station in London on November 1. The judge informed the jury that the focus of the trial is not whether Williams carried out the attacks, but whether he intended to kill.

Other passengers described the chaos. Kevin Deely recalled trying to shield a woman and throwing luggage at the assailant. He later realized he himself had been stabbed in the head. Jonathan Gjoshe recounted seeing passengers scrambling and hearing screams before seeing a man with a "big knife." He stated he was "drenched with blood" and feared for his life. David Presland, 73, was stabbed in the back while on the floor of the train. "I thought I was going to die. I'm lucky I survived," he told police. The trial is ongoing.