IN CHURCHES across England on Sunday, prayers were focused on the “appalling violence” carried out on a train from Doncaster to London the previous night, the Bishop of Huntingdon, the Rt Revd Dagmar Winter, has said.
Eleven people were hospitalised after a mass stabbing attack on the 6.25 p.m. London North Eastern Railway service from Doncaster to King’s Cross. Eyewitnesses reported that a person brandishing a kitchen knife began stabbing people after the train passed through Peterborough.
Police should not treating the attack as a terror incident.
Two British men of their 30s were initially arrested. One, Anthony Williams, 32, of Langford Road, Peterborough, was charged on Monday with ten counts of attempted murder. He was attributable to appear at Peterborough Magistrates Court the identical day. The other man was released with no further motion.
Cambridgeshire Police received the primary 999 calls at 7.39 p.m. from passengers on board. The British Transport Police were alerted shortly afterwards. The train then made an unscheduled stop at Huntingdon station — about quarter-hour by rail from Peterborough — after the motive force contacted the control room from his cab.
In a Facebook post on Sunday, Bishop Winter said: “Our prayers in churches in all places this Sunday, and particularly in Huntingdon, have been with all those affected by the deeply distressing Cambridgeshire train attack last night. We pray especially for individuals who have been injured, those in hospital, their family and friends, and we thank the emergency services and all those that are caring for victims of that appalling violence.
“Our prayers are an expression of affection and commitment to what is nice and right, an expression of hope in a God who’s stronger than violence and darkness, and a commitment to living in a way where all human life is cherished.”
All Saints, Huntingdon, within the diocese of Ely, also posted a message of support on Facebook. “We are deeply saddened by the tragic incident that took place on the train, which then stopped in Huntingdon yesterday. Our prayers are with all those injured, or affected in any way, and with everyone in our community who’s feeling shaken or distressed.
“We are grateful for the swift response of all those working within the emergency services, and our prayers are with them today also.” The church would remain open for prayer and reflections, the message said.
No victims have yet been named. By Sunday evening, five people had been discharged from hospital. One stays in a “life-threatening” condition. The Police report that this casualty was a member of LNER rail staff who was on the train on the time and attempted to stop the attacker.
“Detectives have reviewed the CCTV from the train and it is obvious his actions were nothing in need of heroic and undoubtedly saved many individuals’s lives.”
