Police are investigating whether the man accused of trying to kill 10 people during the Huntingdon train attack is linked to a string of knife incidents in the hours before the bloody rampage.
Anthony Williams, 32, was charged on Monday morning with 10 counts of attempted murder after an attack on an LNER train to London King’s Cross on Saturday evening.
He has also been charged with one count of attempted murder over an incident at Pontoon Dock DLR station in London in the early hours of Saturday, where a victim was slashed in the face with a knife.
Detectives are now also investigating whether the suspect is linked to another three knife incidents which took place in Peterborough in the run-up to the attack on Saturday.
Cambridgeshire Police said a 14-year-old boy was stabbed on Friday evening in the city centre. He was taken to hospital and was said to have suffered minor injuries.
Fifteen minutes later, a knifeman entered a barber’s in Fletton, Peterborough, although the incident was only reported to police two hours later.
A second report of a knifeman at the same barber’s shop was made at 9.25am the next day. When police arrived 18 minutes later, officers could not find the suspect at the scene.
The three terrifying incidents will form part of the British Transport Police’s investigation into the Huntingdon train horror, detectives said on Monday.
Home secretary Shabana Mahmood told MPs on Monday that the public will have "many unanswered questions" about the train attacker and there is "much more" the government could be doing with "new and emerging technology" to tackle knife crime.
She paid tribute to the "breathtaking bravery" of those on the train, including one of the staff members who put himself in harm's way and confronted the attacker.
She said: "On Saturday, he went to work to do his job – today, he is a hero, and forever will be. "
The LNER staff member is in a critical but stable condition in hospital following the stabbings on the high-speed service.
Responding to shadow home secretary Chris Philp, Ms Mahmood said: "This government will consult on a legal framework so that all police forces across the country can use live facial recognition technology, confident that they will not find themselves defending those decisions in courts in the future."
She added: "I think there is much more that we can do to use new and emerging technology in order to help us tackle this type of criminality."
Ms Mahmood said the "majority" of those who are in possession of a knife receive "reasonably lengthy prison sentences", adding: "When we know more about the circumstances of this particular case, we will know if there are other lessons for us to draw, and other areas of policy for us to consider."
On Monday, Cambridgeshire Police confirmed it referred itself to the Independent Office for Police Conduct watchdog in relation to the incidents in Peterborough, but the organisation said it did not meet the criteria for a referral.
The fresh scope of the probe came as dramatic new details emerged about how the horrific attack on board the busy train in Cambridgeshire unfolded.
Dozens of travellers were forced to barricade themselves in carriages and try to shield themselves from the brutal stabbings.
Stephen Crean, 61, described how he was stabbed six times after he confronted the attacker, armed with nothing but his fists.
The Nottingham Forest supporter said he was returning back from a match when he heard a carriage door open and people running and shouting “run, run, run, man’s got knife”.
“They had all packed into the buffet car and the toilets and locked the doors, as you do, and so that was it for me,” he told The Telegraph.
“He came towards me and said to me, ‘Do you want to die?’. That’s what he said.”
Mr Crean said he was stabbed numerous times, including in his left hand, back, bottom and head. He managed to escape the attacker by crawling into an empty toilet and locking the door before the train arrived at Huntingdon station.
Passengers had pulled the emergency alarms on the LNER service and it was diverted to Huntingdon, where the suspect was arrested.
Scunthorpe United player Jonathan Gjoshe was also one of the victims affected by the train attack on Saturday, the club has confirmed.
In a post on X, the club said he sustained non-life-threatening injuries as a result of the attack, but remains in hospital.
Mr Williams appeared in the dock at Peterborough Magistrates’ Court in handcuffs with four security officers alongside him on Monday and spoke softly to confirm his name, age and address.
He was not asked to enter pleas and when asked his address, he mumbled: “No fixed abode.”
According to court documents, he allegedly used a “large kitchen knife” in both the London and Huntingdon attacks.
Mr Williams has been charged with the attempted murder of Scott Bletcher; Michael Paffett; Kevin Deely; Jonathan Gjoshe; David Presland; Sachin Balakrishnan; Stephen Crean; Samir Zitouni; Rasza Aslam and Scott Green. He is also accused of the attempted murder of Isaiah Ishmael Idris earlier the same day at a DLR station.
Mr Williams also faced a charge of assault, which relates to him allegedly attacking a male police officer in custody after being arrested, leaving him with a broken nose, the court heard.
District judge Ken Sheraton remanded Mr Williams into custody to appear at Cambridge Crown Court on 1 December.
It is understood he is not known to the security services or counterterrorism policing, and had not been referred to the government’s anti-extremism scheme Prevent.
Transport secretary Heidi Alexander said there would be an increase in visible police patrols at stations but insisted public transport was safe.
Armed police were seen patrolling busy London stations, including King’s Cross, on Monday morning.
The prime minister ruled out installing airport-style scanners in train stations, saying it would not be “proportionate or practical”.
Sir Keir Starmer's official spokesperson said the government “takes all acts of crime extremely seriously on our railways and on our public transport network”, adding: “It’s important to strike a balance between the impact on the rail network and passengers’ journeys.”
