A 32-year-old man named Anthony Williams has appeared at Peterborough Magistrates’ Court after being charged in connection with a mass stabbing on a London-bound train in Cambridgeshire. The attack occurred on Saturday evening and resulted in eleven people being taken to hospital. The most seriously injured individual is a member of the train crew who intervened.
Williams, who is from Peterborough, faces eleven counts of attempted murder, plus additional charges including possession of a bladed article and assault occasioning actual bodily harm. He also has been charged in connection with a separate knife attack earlier on the same day at Pontoon Dock on London’s DLR network.
According to the statements from the British Transport Police and other forces, the train had left Doncaster and was en route to London King’s Cross when the stabbing began shortly after departure from Peterborough. An emergency stop was made at Huntingdon station, at which point armed officers boarded and detained suspects within minutes.
Investigators emphasise that at this stage the incident is not being treated as terrorism-related. They are reviewing whether other incidents in the Peterborough area in the hours before the train attack are linked to the same suspect.
At the court appearance, Williams was remanded in custody. He did not enter a plea and will next appear at Cambridge Crown Court on 1 December.
A spokesperson for the Crown Prosecution Service described the investigation as drawing on a large volume of evidence including CCTV, stating the case will be pursued “in the public interest”.
The attack has prompted a heightened security presence across the rail network and renewed scrutiny of how rail-line security and emergency procedures are managed. Officials have praised the swift actions of the train crew and emergency responders in mitigating what could have become a far worse incident.
English