This is what dying feels like, says train victim

Published6 November 2026

A passenger stabbed multiple times by a knifeman accused of trying to kill 10 people on a train has told jurors he thought "this is what it feels like to die".

Scott Bletcher was on the York to London King's Cross LNER service on 1 November last year when the attacks happened, leading to an unscheduled stop in Huntingdon, Cambridgeshire.

On Friday, Cambridge Crown Court also heard from staff member Samir Zitouni, who said he fought back using a frying pan, stating he did not want to "give up until the train stopped".

Anthony Williams, 33, of Langford Road, Peterborough, denies 10 counts of attempted murder.

He is also charged with four other alleged attempted murders following earlier incidents in Peterborough and London.

Bletcher said he was travelling alone after doing Christmas shopping in Newark-on-Trent, in Nottinghamshire, and was "quite looking forward to the tapas I'd bought actually".

After Peterborough he noticed people running down the aisle, but he remained seated because he was "still not concerned", presuming there had been a disagreement.

He then saw a knife being held in front of him at eye level and said he felt "trapped… there is no way of escape", followed by a "scratch" to the head from the knife.

Bletcher said he moved his arm to shield his face and added: "There was nothing said to me and I didn't respond because there was nothing to respond to."

The court heard the victim - who is the first to give live evidence at the trial - was stabbed five more times.

'Sirens were underwater'

He said Williams then "put his hand down with the knife" and went to the next carriage.

Bletcher described feeling a "warm liquid" dripping down his arm.

He called 999 to say "there's a man running, chaos, with a knife" and his call was played to the court, in which you can hear him say "Oh my God he's coming back".

Bletcher said he hid in a bike rack and once in Huntingdon, he found police telling them: "Am I glad to see you, I've been stabbed."

He started to feel tired, the court heard, and said the "sounds of the sirens were underwater".

"I thought this is what it feels like to die," he added.

Earlier, jurors were played a video interview with Zitouni, who watched on from the public gallery.

The court has heard how his lungs were punctured and he needed four blood transfusions, chest drains and the assistance of a ventilator.

Zitouni said he saw a crowd of people coming through the train shouting "there's a guy with a knife", to which he questioned "a guy with a knife, are you sure?".

Jurors have been told he was "rushing backwards and forwards like a busy beaver trying to get different things" including trolleys and pans to defend the passengers.

Zitouni said he told the attacker "No, man. No, man", and that he offered him help, which he thought "was better than swearing at him".

Jurors have previously heard Zitouni told the defendant: "We love you, we can help you."

In Court: Huntingdon Train Attack

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

Passenger Michael Gawthorpe, who was not stabbed by Williams but was in the same carriage as Zitouni, said in a video-recorded interview that he "kept saying calm down, just put the knife down, please stop... we've all got kids".

He said Williams said something along the lines of "they're trying to kill me".

Gawthorpe recalled someone passing him a large toaster which he said he threw at the attacker.

But he said he remembered Williams then looking at him and he thought "that was me done... I thought I've made a mistake here".

Another passenger, Christina Jones, wept in her video-recorded interview as she demonstrated how she hid behind her handbag.

The court heard she threw a hot drink at Williams.

As well as arguing Williams was attempting to murder the 10 people on the train, prosecutors allege that on 31 October he tried to kill three people in Peterborough.

He is also charged with attempting to murder a teenager in the early hours of 1 November on a DLR train in east London.

Whether Williams carried out the attacks is not in question - the court has been told - but jurors must consider whether he intended to kill.

The trial continues.

Do you have a story suggestion for Cambridgeshire? Contact us below.

Get in touch

Your Voice

Follow Cambridgeshire news on BBC Sounds, Facebook, external, Instagram, external and X, external.

Related topics

Huntingdon

Peterborough

York

More on this story

Passengers thought mass train attack 'was a joke'

• Published2 days ago

Passengers thought mass train attack 'was a joke'

Published2 days ago

Train attacker thought boy was 'devil', jury hears

• Published3 days ago

Train attacker thought boy was 'devil', jury hears

Published3 days ago

Stabbed boy felt train attacker 'was not sane'

• Published30 October

Stabbed boy felt train attacker 'was not sane'

Published30 October

CCTV shows frying pan used to stop train attacker

• Published29 October

CCTV shows frying pan used to stop train attacker

Published29 October

Train attacker asked man 'do you want to die?', trial hears

• Published29 October

Train attacker asked man 'do you want to die?', trial hears

Published29 October

Related internet links

HM Courts and Tribunals Service

HM Courts and Tribunals Service