Terror surged through a train as a knifeman went from carriage to carriage trying to kill passengers, a court heard.

Anthony Williams, 33, asked one ‘do you want to die?’ before lunging at him on the London-bound LNER train on November 1 last year.

He is on trial at Cambridge Crown Court charged with the attempted murder of 14 people that weekend, including 10 train passengers in a five-minute attack.

Opening the case against him today, prosecutor Christopher Paxton KC told jurors Williams caused ‘terror and fear on an unimaginable scale, moving up and down a busy train, from which there was no escape, stabbing several people as he did so’.

He described a ‘ripple effect’ of passengers seeing Williams’s attack ‘erupt and spread down the train’.

Some ‘ran for their lives’ while others ‘stood tall to protect others’, jurors heard.

Williams denies 14 counts of attempted murder – 10 of them in relation to the LNER train, three said to have happened in Peterborough and one at Pontoon Dock DLR station in London.

Mr Paxton told jurors that by his pleas of not guilty, Williams denies the allegations of attempted murder, but that he accepts he attacked those named in the indictment.

He said: ‘The defendant does accept that he attacked those named in the indictment and accepts he intended to cause them really serious harm, but he denies he intended to kill them when he stabbed them or stabbed out towards them.’

The prosecutor told jurors Williams posed ‘a dangerous threat’ to those he encountered on Friday October 31 and the following day.

He said: ‘Across the Halloween weekend last year, to the many people he encountered, the defendant Anthony Williams posed a dangerous threat, marauding through towns and cities, on streets and trains alike, armed with a knife.

‘He stabbed many, seeking to end their lives with deadly intention, striking out at them when they were defenceless and in fear.’

Williams attacked three people in Peterborough on the evening of October 31, stabbing a 14-year-old boy when he walked past him on a footbridge near Henry Penn Walk, Peterborough, before lunging with his knife at Dawid Taborski, the court heard.

He then attempted to stab William Ogelby four times in the chest in the Rail World car park, jurors were told.

He later travelled to London where in the early hours of the following day he approached a 17-year-old boy, Isaiah Idris, on the Docklands Light Railway at Pontoon Dock in London, and knifed him in the face and hand, the court was told.

Later on the Saturday evening, he stabbed 10 people on the train in a five-minute attack.

Describing events on the train, Mr Paxton told the jury: ‘The defendant brought terror which resulted in them fleeing and some fighting for their lives.

‘In the face of that threat and the defendant’s sheer brutality some stood tall to protect others trying to de-escalate his rampage, defending themselves and putting themselves in harm’s way to protect strangers.’

Some fled ‘in sheer terror’, locking themselves in toilets, while others tried to de-escalate the attack, the court heard.

One of the victims, 73-year-old David Presland, was attacked after he fell to the ground, and other passengers fled, but eventually ‘ran out of train’ in their bid to escape.

‘In sheer terror, the train passengers ran for their lives, hiding away in locked toilets, store cabinets, or under seats until many fleeing the defendant literally ran out of train; they could go no further; they were trapped on the moving train,’ Mr Paxton said.

Some showed ‘extraordinary bravery’ in trying to fend Williams off, grabbing frying pans or toasters to protect themselves, and trying to speak to the attacker to stop him, he said.

Scott Green, who had his dog Poppy with him, tried to grab the knife from Williams, who continued to stab him as he sat in his seat, while Kevin Deely was also attacked on the train and received stab wounds to his scalp and midriff, penetrating his stomach by more than 9cm, the court heard.

The trial continues.

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