Man charged with 10 counts of attempted murder after knife attack on UK train

AFP

British police said a 32-year-old British man was on Monday charged with 10 counts of attempted murder over a knife attack on a train on Saturday, an incident officers had already said was not being treated as terrorism-related.

Eleven people were injured in the mass stabbing on the train, including a member of the train crew who remains in hospital in a critical but stable condition. That person was hurt while trying to stop the accused from stabbing others.

The attack, on a London-bound train which then stopped at Huntingdon about 80 miles north of London, shocked the country, and prompted statements from Prime Minister Keir Starmer and King Charles, who sent their sympathies to those affected.

Britain's Crown Prosecution Service said Anthony Williams, 32, 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. Ten of the attempted murder charges were linked to the train attack, British Transport Police said, while the eleventh charge was connected to an incident at a station in east London earlier on the same day.

Williams, who is from Peterborough in eastern England, will appear at Peterborough Magistrates Court later on Monday, they said, adding that the charges were brought after a review of CCTV footage from the train amongst other evidence.

Transport minister Heidi Alexander confirmed on Monday the man was not known to security services. She declined to comment on whether he was known to mental health services.

Five of the injured had been discharged from hospital by late on Sunday.

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