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Stabbed boy felt Huntingdon train attacker 'was not sane', court hears

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Anthony Williams stabbed a 14-year-old boy before he attacked people on a train, a jury hears.

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This story was published by BBC UK on October 30, 2026 and curated on Africa Front.

October 30, 2026

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Stabbed boy felt Huntingdon train attacker 'was not sane', court hears

Published30 October 2026

A 14-year-old boy stabbed by a man who went on to attack people on a train said he did not feel the knifeman was "mentally sane", a court heard.

The teenager was attacked in Peterborough the day before Anthony Williams is accused of trying to kill 10 people on a train that had to make an emergency stop in Huntingdon in November 2025.

In a video recorded interview played to jurors at Cambridge Crown Court, the boy said: "This random guy… he just pulled out a knife and stabbed me."

Williams, 33, of Langford Road in Peterborough, denies 14 counts of attempted murder - four of which concern attacks prior to the mass train stabbing.

At the time of the attack, the boy, who cannot be named because of his age, was waiting with a friend on a footbridge over the River Nene, before going trick or treating.

Williams drew a knife from his waistband, he said, and "because I was closest to him, he's just stabbed me".

"I didn't feel like he was mentally sane. His eyes were wide open, like he was on something," he said.

"My friend said he was shouting something like 'are you involved?'."

"When he stabbed me, it's like he was there for a knife fight. Like he was waiting for me to pull out something."

The teenager said he had "so much adrenaline" that it felt "like a poke in the chest".

The jury heard the pair ran away and hid in some bushes, where they called the police.

In Court: Huntingdon Train Attack

Follow all the developments from the trial as they unfold on our BBC podcast In Court

Jurors later watched a video recorded interview with Dawid Taborski, who Williams is also accused of attempting to murder.

Taborski said he was going to a rave with a friend when he heard a man with a "very, very deep voice" asking "are you involved, are you involved?".

He said the man pulled a knife out of a backpack and lunged at him.

Taborski said he told the armed man, "mate, just step back" before he "literally... ran for my life".

Jurors also saw a video interview with William Ogelby, who was on his way to a cashpoint when he was attacked.

A man walking towards him said "wagwan" to him, which he understood to be a greeting, and he said it back.

Ogelby said the man then pulled a kitchen knife out from a rucksack "and he's tried to stab me three times in the stomach and once in the chest".

Ogelby said he jumped back as soon as the man lunged and "in that moment I've just ran off".

"I thought he was going to kill me," Ogelby said.

During the prosecution opening, jurors were told Williams "has some mental health issues which may or may not become relevant during this trial".

The trial has been told that whether Williams carried out the attacks is not in question, but jurors must consider whether he intended to kill those individuals.

Williams is accused of attempting to murder Raza Aslam, Sachin Balakrishnan, Stephen Crean, Kevin Deely, Scott Green, David Presland and Samir Zitouni on the London-bound train between Peterborough and Huntingdon on the Saturday evening, along with Scott Bletcher, Jonathan Gjoshe and Michael Paffett.

As well as the attacks in Peterborough, he is accused of attempting to murder a teenager on a Docklands Light Railway train in London in the early hours of 1 November.

The trial continues, with jurors asked to return to court on Monday.