The man accused of attacking and injuring passengers with a knife on board an LNER train on Saturday night may be connected with other incidents less than two days earlier.
Anthony Williams, 32, has been remanded in custody on 11 counts of attempted murder, ten of which are in connection with the train attacks. The 11th follows a knife attack on a man at Pontoon Dock station on the Docklands Light Railway soon after midnight on Saturday morning. He received injuries to his face.
Police are also investigating possible links with an attack on a boy of 14 and two reports of a man wielding a knife in a Peterborough barbers’ shop.
The BBC has published a CCTV image of Anthony Williams in Peterborough on Friday.
Cambridgeshire Police said a ‘crime was raised’ in each case, and that investigations had been launched.
There have been widespread tributes to the bravery of LNER staff and their passengers.
Driver Andrew Johnson took swift action when the alarm was raised by immediately contacting control, so that his train could be diverted from the up fast to the up slow line at Huntingdon and stop alongside a platform. Mr Johnson’s presence of mind made it possible for police and paramedics to board the train quickly.
A second member of the train crew, who has not been named, is ’critical but stable’ in hospital, after he was injured as he tried to protect his passengers from the attacker.
The Prime Minister has praised the ‘heroic’ actions of the railway staff and also the efficient response of the emergency services who met the train at Huntingdon.
Sir Keir Starmer said: ‘There's no doubt that their collective action, their brave action, saved countless lives and I know the whole country is grateful for that.’
A columnist in the Daily Telegraph also praised the staff involved, saying: ‘We are fortunate in having railway employees prepared to accept their responsibility to ensure passengers’ safety – in this case by putting themselves in harm’s way.’
The train involved had been cordoned off for forensic examination, but it has now left Huntingdon and the station is open again.
Meanwhile, the incident has started a debate about train staffing and how railway security can be improved. Armed police have been patrolling major stations.
Transport secretary Heidi Alexander has ruled out metal detectors on the railway.
She told Sky News: ‘I don’t think airport-style scanners would be the way to go. I understand why you asked the question, and I understand why some of your viewers might be wondering about that.
‘We have thousands of railway stations, and those stations have multiple entrances, multiple platforms. What we can’t do is make life impossible for everyone, but we do need to take sensible and proportionate steps to make the public transport network safe.’
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