So it genuinely wasn’t a jihad attack. The second man arrested, after being tasered, was released by the police without charge. The passengers only ever mentioned one knife attacker; I suspect the other man fitted the same description, black, age early 30s, dark coat with hood, and the police wanted to apprehend him and ask questions later.
First the Daily Mail
While terrorism has been ruled out, sources confirmed that the suspect had a history of mental-health issues and was known to the authorities.
After a second man arrested on the train was released without charge, British Transport Police (BTP) were last night holding a 32-year-old black British man, from Peterborough, on suspicion of attempted murder.
He is said to have begun his onslaught on Saturday minutes after boarding the train in his hometown, where the Doncaster to London King’s Cross service arrived at 7.30pm.
One woman, Dayna Arnold . . .had fallen to the floor when the suspect stood over her with a 6in blade and she begged him not to hurt her. She said: ‘I was running and when I looked back I saw the knifeman running after me. I fell down and I said, “Please don’t”. Something shifted in his face and he just carried on. He said, “The Devil is not going to win”.’
The train then made an unscheduled stop at Huntingdon station at around 7.41pm, where officers were waiting.
Exclusive videos obtained by the Daily Mail showed blood-stained passengers sprinting down the platform to get away once the train had stopped. In the footage, a rail worker can be seen walking backwards keeping his eyes on the knifeman as he urged the public to ‘move down, move down’ and ‘run, please’.
Video then showed the attacker had jumped down from the platform and crossed a section of track, before climbing a fence and walking through the car park brandishing his large blade. Separate video taken by a taxi driver then shows the knifeman shouting ‘kill me, kill me’, as he is bundled to the ground by half a dozen armed officers.
Now we hear, from the Telegraph
Huntingdon suspect could be linked to stabbing of boy, 14, before train rampage
- The British Transport Police named the attack suspect as Anthony Williams, 32 from Peterborough.
- He was charged with 11 counts of attempted murder, one count of assault occasioning actual bodily harm and two counts of possession of a bladed article.
- Williams appeared at Peterborough magistrates’ court where he arrived covered by a sheet.
- Wearing a grey custody-style jumper and handcuffs, he spoke only to confirm his name, date of birth and address.
- He was demanded into custody after his case was referred to Cambridge Crown Court for a pre-trial hearing on Dec 1.
- It later emerged that police are investigating three possible linked incidents involving knives in the days before the train attack, including the stabbing of a 14-year-old boy.
He is also charged with assault at Pontoon Dock station on the DLR (Docklands Light Railway) in East London and is belived to be the person brandishing a knife at a Peterborough Barbers shop twice. And he broke a policeman’s nose in the custody suite after arrest.
I’m impressed with the behaviour of the railway staff and passengers. The driver is a former Royal Navy veteran of the Iraq war. He said his quick thinking organising the train to divert to the right platform at Huntingdon so that the train could stop (it usually wizzes though on a outer track) was merely correct training; he isn’t a ‘hero’ but his colleagues and those passengers who tackled Anthony Williams face to face are the real heroes.
The question that needs to be raised again is the matter of violent behaviour associated with mental illness disproportionate among men of Afro Caribbean background. and as a side issue the effect of cannabis use on their mental illness. Over 30 years ago when my duties at the Lord Chancellors Department did take me into hospitals and prisons the connection was discussed. Then, dismissed as misdiagnosis by white psychiatrists ignorant of Afro Caribbean culture, discussion was shut down. I said at the time that most of the psychiatrists I was dealing with were of Indian heritage. They may well have been less steeped in Afro Caribbean culture but they were not white! Dr Daniels is better placed to give an opinion.
This violent crime, whic we were lucky was not fatal, only adds to public anger.
