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Prosecutor says Williams attacks showed intent to kill

By Drooid · Oct 30, 2026 · How we work

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Summary

Anthony Williams stabbed ten passengers on a London-bound LNER train on 1 Nov 2025.
The train stopped at Huntingdon, Cambridgeshire at 7:44 pm after a five-minute rampage.
On 31 Oct 2025, Williams stabbed a 14-year-old boy and attacked three others in Peterborough.
On 1 Nov 2025, he knifed 17-year-old Isaiah Idris on the Docklands Light Railway at Pontoon Dock.
Prosecutor Christopher Paxton KC told jurors attacks showed intent to kill, despite Williams' denial of murder.

Summary

Rail worker Samir Zitouni brandished a frying pan to confront the knifeman.
A passenger wielded a toaster as an improvised weapon against the attacker.
Prosecutor Christopher Paxton KC called the duo’s actions extraordinary bravery in closing remarks.
Scott Green’s dog Poppy barked and lunged, making the assailant retreat temporarily.
Victim Sachin Balakrishnan suffered forearm and chest stab wounds that punctured a lung near his heart.

History

On 7 July 2005 four Islamist suicide bombers killed 52 people on the London Underground and a bus, prompting the Metropolitan Police and Home Secretary Charles Clarke to raise the national alert and deploy thousands of officers. The attack spurred lasting railway security upgrades, which now frame the police response to the November 2025 LNER train-stabbing incident.

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On 7 July 2005 four Islamist suicide bombers killed 52 people on the London Underground and a bus, prompting the Metropolitan Police and Home Secretary Charles Clarke to raise the national alert and deploy thousands of officers. The attack spurred lasting railway security upgrades, which now frame the police response to the November 2025 LNER train-stabbing incident.

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