Huntingdon train attack passenger ‘feared suicide bomber’

A passenger on a train where a mass stabbing took place said he initially thought there might have been a suicide bomber, a court has heard.

Milan Campion was travelling on a London-bound LNER service on 1 November last year when it made an unscheduled stop at Huntingdon during an attack by Anthony Williams.

He said Williams was “threatening everyone indiscriminately” so he “came to the conclusion that he wasn’t sound of mind”.

The 33-year-old, of Peterborough, denies 10 counts of attempted murder on the train. He is also charged with four other attempted murders following earlier incidents in Peterborough and London.

In a video interview played to jurors on Monday, Campion said he got on the train at Grantham, and many of the passengers had been to the Nottingham Forest v Manchester United match.

The court heard how Campion, who is not one of those Williams is accused of trying to kill, opened a toilet door to find Williams inside.

Campion said “he was just sitting on it staring at the ground” and it was “weird that he hadn’t locked the door”.

He said later he heard people shout “there’s a guy with a knife” and there was a “big chain of us running down the aisle”.

“I thought it might have been a suicide bomber so I need to get as far away as possible to maximise your chance of survival if it goes off.”

Campion said Williams was “remonstrating with no-one in particular” and was shouting something he could not understand.

“He just looked angry, you could see the anger in his eyes,” the witness said.