Huntingdon train knifeman was 'on a mission' when he stabbed 10 people in carriage, hero football fan who fought with him tells court

Published: 10:24 EDT, 5 November 2026 | Updated: 10:24 EDT, 5 November 2026 The knifeman who stabbed ten people on a train last year was 'on a mission', a hero football fan who tussled with him has told a court. Nottingham Forest fan Stephen Crean was on the London-bound LNER service when a girl ran past him screaming and said 'man with a knife, big knife' and screamed, he said in a police interview video which was played to jurors.In the footage, played at Cambridge Crown Court, Mr Crean said he tried to stop knifeman Anthony Williams from getting to a buffet car where there were more people on November 1 last year.'I went towards him away from that buffet car then all of a sudden he looked at me and said to me, as I will never forget, he said '"do you want to die?" and he pulled out a blade from nowhere,' he said.He said people fleeing Williams were 'struggling to get the buffet door shut', and when he heard it click, shut he moved towards Williams.Mr Crean, who had his left hand bandaged in his interview video, said he 'went for that knife'.He said Williams had been 'on a mission', before events became 'like Come Dancing, it was all over the place'.He said his fingers were cut and Williams was 'twisting and turning' the knife. Anthony Williams denies attempting to murder 10 people on the London-bound service that was stopped in Huntingdon, Cambridgeshire, on November 1 last year Anthony Williams pictured with a knife on board an LNER service from Doncaster to London in November last year Police on the platform by the LNER train at Huntingdon station in Cambridgeshire on November 1, 2025'We had a bit of a tussle,' Mr Crean said, with jurors played CCTV from the train of the incident.Mr Crean said he 'went down, my phone went flying'.He said he later went into a toilet and locked the door, adding: 'I smiled, then middle-fingered him then closed the door.'He said he had 'wanted to sort him out to try and stop him because I knew he wanted to get in that buffet car'.He said he then dialled 999 and police told him they were on their way.Mr Crean said Williams 'never gave the game away' and 'didn't say why this or that'.'I became like a barricade to him and that's it,' he added.Describing the moment he decided to advance on Williams, Mr Crean said of the buffet car door: 'I heard it click, happy days, I went towards him (Williams).' Williams captured during his arrest on November 1 in relation to the alleged stabbing on board the train Williams pictured on CCTV footage from the LNER train, which has been shown to the courtHe said it 'probably shocked him (Williams) that I've gone for him first'.He said his intention had been 'to stop him, stop him from using that knife, that was the whole point of it'.Asked about how Williams appeared, Mr Crean said '100 per cent he was fine, he looked normal, he was just on a mission, he didn't seem angry.'Williams denies attempting to murder ten people on the London-bound service that was stopped in Huntingdon, Cambridgeshire, on November 1 last year.He also denies the attempted murders of three people in Peterborough on October 31 and of a 17-year-old boy at Pontoon Dock DLR station in London in the early hours of November 1.Jurors have been told there is no dispute that Williams perpetrated the attack on the LNER train, but they will be asked to decide whether he intended to kill his victims. The trial continues.