Anthony Williams, 33, has pleaded guilty to 12 counts of wounding with intent, including 10 charges linked to the mass stabbing on a London-bound LNER train at Huntingdon that left 11 people needing hospital treatment. He denied 14 counts of attempted murder at Cambridge Crown Court.
Guilty Pleas in Court
Appearing by video-link from custody at a pre-trial review hearing, Williams entered guilty pleas to 10 counts of wounding with intent relating to the LNER train incident. He also admitted wounding with intent of a man at Pontoon Dock DLR station in London and wounding with intent of a 14-year-old boy on October 31.
Additionally, he pleaded guilty to two counts of attempting to wound a 22-year-old man and a 28-year-old man in Peterborough on October 31. Williams changed his pleas to guilty on seven other counts, including affray at a barber shop in Peterborough and stealing knives from an Asda store in Stevenage.
Details of the Attack
The mass stabbing occurred on November 1, 2025, on a high-speed LNER train travelling from Doncaster to London, while stopped at Huntingdon, Cambridgeshire. Nine of the 11 people hospitalised were believed to have life-threatening injuries.
Williams admitted possessing a bladed article in a public place at a footbridge near Henry Penn Walk, the Rail World car park and Queen's Walk in Peterborough, plus a similar offence at Pontoon Dock DLR station. He also pleaded guilty to common assault on a Govia Thameslink train and possessing a knife on a train between Peterborough and Huntingdon, and admitted assault occasioning actual bodily harm against a male police officer while in custody on November 2.
Trial Scheduled
Prosecutor Christopher Paxton KC said: "Those guilty pleas do not resolve the indictment so there will be a trial." Williams denied 14 counts of attempted murder, including 10 relating to named victims on the train and others connected to incidents in London and Peterborough.
The trial on the remaining charges is scheduled to begin at Cambridge Crown Court on October 26 and is expected to last six weeks. Williams was remanded in custody ahead of his trial.
