A 32-year-old British man has appeared in court after being charged with attempted murder in a mass stabbing attack on a train in the UK that resulted in 11 people being injured.
Anthony Williams was charged on Monday with 10 counts of attempted murder, one of actual bodily harm, and one of possession of a bladed article in the Saturday evening attack that happened on a train traveling through the east of England.
Williams is further charged with attempted murder in a separate incident that took place at Pontoon Dock transit station in London earlier the same day.
He allegedly used a “large kitchen knife” in both attacks, according to court documents.
Other Possible Offenses
Cambridgeshire Constabulary, investigating separately from the British Transport Police, said detectives are examining whether Williams was involved in 3 incidents in Peterborough—a Friday evening stabbing in which a 14-year-old boy received minor injuries, and two reports of a man with a knife at a barber shop on Friday evening and Saturday morning.British Transport Secretary Heidi Alexander told Times Radio that the suspect was not known to counterterrorism police or to the intelligence services, but would not say whether he had contact with mental health services.
Police initially arrested a second man in relation to the attack, but later released him without charge, and are confident they will not be looking for anyone else in connection with the attack. They have not yet disclosed a possible motive.
Five injured people have been discharged from the hospital, and one remains in a life-threatening condition. The most seriously wounded victim is a member of railway staff who tried to stop the attacker, with his condition described as “critical but stable.”
“This casualty is a member of LNER [London North Eastern Railway] staff who was on the train at the time and tried to stop the attacker,“ British Transport Police said. ”Detectives have reviewed the CCTV from the train and it is clear his actions were nothing short of heroic and undoubtedly saved many people’s lives.”
Forensic investigators look at the area where travellers left their belongings after a mass stabbing on a London-bound train in Huntingdon, England, Sunday, Nov. 2, 2025. AP Photo/Kirsty Wigglesworth
Driver Overrode Emergency Stop
The driver of the train has also been praised for his decision to continue driving to Huntingdon, with several UK media reports identifying him as a former veteran who served in the Iraq war.Andrew Johnson is reported to have overridden an emergency alarm—which signals a driver to hit the brakes—to guide the train to Huntingdon, which is not on the scheduled route but is where waiting armed officers from nearby Cambridgeshire Constabulary swooped.
According to The Guardian, Johnson has been working as a train driver since 2018 after serving in the Royal Navy for 17 years, including active service in Iraq during the second Gulf War.
The Saturday evening rampage lasted around 8 minutes, spreading fear and panic through the train bound for London from Doncaster, in the north of England.
The attack unfolded roughly mid-way through the train’s scheduled two-hour journey, having departed Doncaster at 6.24 p.m. for London’s King’s Cross station.
Police said that Williams boarded the train at Peterborough, just a few minutes before the driver made the emergency stop in Huntingdon, a market town around 75 miles north of London.
A forensic investigator enters the train after a mass stabbing on a London-bound train in Huntingdon, England, Sunday, Nov. 2, 2025.AP Photo/Kirsty Wigglesworth
Eyewitnesses have described scenes of carnage as passengers covered in blood raced down the train to get away from the assailant, with some seeking safety in the toilet cubicles.
Passenger Olly Foster told the BBC he heard shouts of, “run, run, there’s a guy literally stabbing everyone,” and initially thought it might have been a Halloween prank, before he noticed his hand was covered in blood from a seat he had leaned on.
One woman said she was “very lucky” to be unharmed after begging the man to spare her life when he chased after her.
Dayna Arnold, 48, told the Mirror newspaper: “I fell down and I just said, ‘Please don’t kill me.’ Something shifted in his face and he just carried on. He said: ‘The devil is not going to win.'”
Passengers pulled emergency alarms, with police receiving the first reports of multiple stabbings at 7.42 p.m.
“This was a horrific attack that has had a wide impact,“ Deputy Chief Constable Stuart Cundy said prior to the charges being made. ”My thoughts and those of everyone in British Transport Police are with those injured and their families—especially the brave member of rail staff whose family are being supported by specialist officers.”
‘Stop-and-Search’ Debate
The attack has reignited debate in the UK about the use of stop-and-search, which has been scaled back in the capital since Sadiq Khan became Mayor of London in 2016.
Then-Policing Minister Chris Philp hosts a roundtable in Downing Street, London, on Oct. 23, 2023. Aaron Chown/PA
Conservative Shadow Home Secretary Chris Philp said on X, “It is crucial that we expand the use of stop and search to get knives off the streets before they can be used to such terrible effect Liberal critics will say this is racist. But we cannot shy away from tough decisions for fear of causing offence.”
Khan has said that stop-and-search disproportionately targets people from ethnic minority backgrounds and has asked the London Metropolitan Police to use it more sparingly.
He told City Hall in 2019, “When I was a human rights lawyer, I was active in highlighting the disproportionate use of Stop and Search and - let’s face it - some examples of downright discrimination.”
A number of analyses and reports focused on London show higher concentrations of knife murders and knife crime among the black demographic—mainly young males—relative to their share of the population. One analysis for London’s 2023 murders found black offenders made up around 40 percent of homicide offenders, while black Londoners make up around 13 percent of the population.
In the year to March 2024, the arrest rate following stop-and-search was 15.9 percent for people of black or mixed race, compared with 13.9 percent for white people and 12.8 percent for Asians.
Calls to Legalize Pepper Spray
News of the attack also prompted calls online for people to be allowed to carry pepper spray, for self-defense purposes, with women in particular arguing they ought to have the right to defend themselves from assailants.Pepper spray (oleoresin capsicum) is legal across the United States for self-defense—although its possession and sale are regulated at state and local levels, with various limits on canister size and concentration, as well as restrictions on sales to minors and people with certain convictions.
Police said that Williams is UK-born and a British national, amid online speculation that the attack might have been carried out by an illegal immigrant.
Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood praised the “exceptional bravery of staff and passengers on the train” following reports of people putting themselves in harm’s way to protect others.
King Charles III and Queen Camilla sent their sympathies to those affected and said they were “truly appalled and shocked to hear of the dreadful knife attack.”
Sunday saw a heightened police presence across the UK’s railway network, both at stations and on trains.
Williams appeared in the dock on Monday afternoon in handcuffs with four security officers alongside him, and spoke only to confirm his name, age, and address.
He was not asked to enter pleas, and when asked his address, he replied “no fixed abode.”
The assault charge Williams faces relates to his allegedly attacking a police officer in custody after being arrested, leaving him with a “broken nose,” the court was told.
A judge remanded Williams into custody to appear at Cambridge Crown Court on Dec. 1.
PA Media and The Associated Press contributed to this report
