Man who stabbed 10 people on train said 'I am the baddest', court hears

A man who stabbed 10 people on a train said "I am the baddest, no-one is as bad as me" as he paced up and down on a different train the day before, a court has heard.

Passenger Ethan Daniels described Anthony Williams as "erratic" on the service from Peterborough to London on 31 October last year.

He told Cambridge Crown Court he appeared to reach for a bag and said "I'm going to do it", but then threw it away and said "no, I can't do it".

Mr Daniels said in a statement he feared for his safety as "Halloween music" was playing from Williams' phone and "he was erratic, he was dodgy".

Williams, 33, has admitted 10 counts of wounding with intent relating to the attack on a LNER train on 1 November.

He's also accused of attacking four others in Peterborough and London in the 24 hours beforehand - but denies 14 counts of attempted murder.

Another passenger on the train on 31 October, Abbie Harrison-Evans, also told the court Williams was playing "spooky Halloween music from his phone" and shouting "I am the baddest".

She said her first impression was that he had mental health problems.

Ms Harrison-Evans said Williams had a rucksack on the seat next to him and "kept grabbing it and saying 'I'm going to do it'".

"It looked like he was reaching for something inside the black rucksack," she told the court in a written statement.

She also described him saying "I'm going to do it", then "not now, can't do it now".

The witness said she "thought he was going to hurt us" and was scared by his "erratic and concerning behaviour".

Another passenger, Keirah Lee-Oakman, described Williams talking and mumbling to himself.

"He began walking up and down the carriage shouting random words like 'boom' and 'power'," she told the court.

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She said Williams mentioned the "devil" but most of what he said was inaudible and incoherent. Such was her concern, she messaged British Transport Police when she left the train at St Neots.

Jurors were also shown footage on Monday of Williams brandishing a knife inside Ritzy barber shop in Peterborough on 31 October.

The footage recorded him swearing and saying "liar" before going in. Most of what he said inside was inaudible.

Taxi driver Mohammed Zahir, who picked Williams up from outside the barber's, said he aggressively told him to "go" as he got inside.

"He was talking to himself saying 'I'm coming London, I'm coming London, I'm coming home'," Mr Zahir said in a statement.

He said when Williams go out at Langford Road, he dropped "something large and silver on the floor" then "quicky dropped his rucksack on top".

Mr Zahir told the court he drove off but was called back as Williams had left his phone in the vehicle and had also booked another trip to Peterborough rail station.

He said he was "quite scared" as the defendant was talking to himself and "punching me softly on my left shoulder saying 'hurry up, quick'".

The court heard last week that Williams took the train to London, where he allegedly stabbed a teenager on the Docklands Light Railway in the early hours, before travelling around the Tube and train network and returning to Peterborough.

He then took another train heading south from the Cambridgeshire city at about 7.29pm on 1 November.

It was on this service that he launched his attack, with passengers fleeing in terror and others bravely taking on the knifeman.

The train was forced to make an emergency stop at Huntingdon just 15 minutes later.

The trial at Cambridge Crown Court continues.

(c) Sky News 2026: Man who stabbed 10 people on train said 'I am the baddest', court hears