Huntingdon train suspect 'linked to string of knife crimes' hours before attack
Police are looking into whether the suspect in the Huntingdon train stabbings was involved in three other knife incidents in Peterborough before the attack
Police are looking into claims Huntingdon train stabbing suspect Anthony Williams is 'linked to three other knife crimes' the day before he allegedly stabbed 10 people.
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Cambridgeshire Police said they are investigating three incidents in Peterborough, including one in which a 14-year-old boy was non-fatally injured.
The boy was stabbed at 7.10pm on Friday, before a man with a knife was seen at a barbers in Fletton 15 minutes later, although this was only reported to police two hours later.
A second report of a knifeman was made at 9.25am the following morning at the same barbershop - but when police arrived 18 minutes later they could not find him.
On Monday, Anthony Williams, 32, appeared at Peterborough Magistrates’ Court charged with 10 counts of attempted murder after several people were stabbed on an LNER train from Doncaster to London on Saturday.
He was also charged with one count of ABH (Actual Bodily Harm), and one count of possession of a bladed article.
He is also charged with one count of assault occasioning actual bodily harm and one count of possession of a bladed article.
A LNER staff member is in a critical but stable condition in hospital following the stabbings on the high-speed service, while four other people remain in hospital.
Separately, Williams is charged with one count of attempted murder and possession of a bladed article over an incident at Pontoon Dock DLR station in London in the early hours of Saturday, where a victim suffered facial injuries after being attacked with a knife.
He allegedly used a “large kitchen knife” in both attacks, according to court documents.
The investigation by British Transport Police into the train attack will include the stabbing of the 14-year-old and the incident at the barber’s shop.
Williams appeared at Peterborough Magistrates Court on Monday flanked by four security officers.
Wearing a grey police-issued tracksuit, the suspect spoke only to confirm his name and age.
He told the judge he had "no fixed abode' when asked for his address and was not asked to enter his pleas.
District judge Ken Sheraton remanded Williams into custody to appear at Cambridge Crown Court on December 1.
Saturday’s attack is understood to have started shortly after the train left Peterborough station.
Passengers pulled the emergency alarms on the LNER service and it was diverted to Huntingdon, Cambridgeshire.
Cambridgeshire Police referred itself to watchdog the Independent Office for Police Conduct in relation to the incidents in Peterborough.
The watchdog said it did not meet the criteria for a referral.