By Salma El-Sakka
A train staff member who used a frying pan to confront a knife-wielding attacker on a York to London King’s Cross service told a court he aimed to hit the weapon and refused to give up until the train stopped, jurors heard at Cambridge Crown Court on Thursday.
Attack on November 1 service
Samir Zitouni was working on the LNER service on 1 November last year when Anthony Williams, 33, of Peterborough, launched an attack that forced an unscheduled stop in Huntingdon, Cambridgeshire. Williams denies 10 counts of attempted murder on the train and four further attempted murders in earlier incidents in Peterborough and London.
Worker’s video testimony
In a video interview played to the jury, Zitouni said he heard passengers shouting about a man with a knife. He grabbed a frying pan, intending to strike the blade and prevent the attacker from moving through the carriage. “My thinking was try to hit the knife, to drop his knife… to not let him pass, to not give up until the train stopped,” he said.
Injuries and passenger accounts
The court heard Zitouni suffered punctured lungs, required four blood transfusions, chest drains and a ventilator. Another passenger, Raza Aslam, described Zitouni rushing back and forth with trolleys and pans to defend passengers. CCTV footage from the train was also shown to jurors.
Prosecution case
Prosecutors allege Williams attempted to kill 10 people on the train, three people in Peterborough on 31 October, and a teenager on a DLR train in east London early on 1 November. The court has been told the fact of the attacks is not in dispute; the jury must decide whether Williams intended to kill.
Trial continues
The trial at Cambridge Crown Court continues.
