A passenger caught in a mass knife attack on a London-bound train has told a jury the moment he was stabbed felt "like an electric shock".
Video evidence from Jonathan Gjoshe was played on Wednesday (November 4) to a jury at Cambridge Crown Court, where 33-year-old Anthony Williams is on trial for 14 counts of attempted murder. Recalling the start of the rampage inside coach J of the London North Eastern Railway (LNER) service from Doncaster to London King's Cross, Mr Gjoshe described the alleged attack as "like a movie" and "quite horrific".
Passenger describes the attack
Mr Gjoshe told police that when he first made eye contact with Williams, who was dressed all in black, he initially thought it was someone he knew. "I've made eye contact with him," Mr Gjoshe said. "He's pulled a knife, but I just think it was the way he's poked me, the way he's stabbed me, it was a bit weird because it was slow. It was not rapid."
He added that Williams showed no emotion as he struck: "He had a pure straight face, no emotion, he's just looked at my shoulder and the knife going in… he hasn't said a single word."
"When I first saw the knife, that's when I screamed and my phone's gone flying," Mr Gjoshe added. "The first poke was like an electric shock, then the adrenaline kicked in."
Injuries and escape
Mr Gjoshe sustained six knife wounds in total. Covered in blood, he fled down the carriage while warning fellow passengers to run, though some initially believed it was a joke. In hospital, seeing the extent of his injuries, he recalled asking medical staff: "Am I going to die today?"
The jury also heard video evidence from other passengers who found themselves trapped in carriage J as the attack unfolded. Sachin Balakrishnan recalled hearing screams before seeing a tall man waving a "big knife". Trapped in an aisle seat, Mr Balakrishnan was struck multiple times in his side and arm as he scrambled to escape down the train.
"This guy was running behind me, there was nowhere to go. Nowhere was safe," Mr Balakrishnan said, describing how he only realised he had been stabbed when he saw exposed flesh on his arm and noticed his t-shirt was soaked in blood. "Everyone was running for their lives," he added.
Other victims and trial details
Another passenger, 73-year-old David Presland, told police he was sitting at a train table when the panic broke out. He was pushed to the floor during the scramble and stabbed in the back. "I thought I was going to die," Mr Presland said, noting that another injured passenger, named Kevin, used his own T-shirt to stanch his wounds and helped drag him to safety. "I'm lucky I survived," he added.
The train was forced to make an emergency stop at Huntingdon, Cambridgeshire, following the violent outburst.
Williams denies 10 counts of attempted murder relating to the train attack, as well as three counts relating to an incident in Peterborough and one count concerning a 17-year-old boy at Pontoon Dock DLR station in London. Trial judge Mr Justice Calver advised the jury that whether Williams carried out the physical attacks is not in question, leaving jurors to determine whether he acted with the specific intent to kill.
