“I felt the pain. But adrenaline kicked in.” Former Scunthorpe United defender Jonathan Gjoshe, 22, was still processing the split-second violence that had just erupted around him as he scrambled over tables and chairs, sprinting down the corridor of an LNER train and screaming a warning to passengers: “There’s a guy with a knife, run, I’ve been stabbed, run, run, run.” He would later learn the knife had sliced through muscle; medics told him he had been stabbed seven times, including in the shoulder and biceps. Drenched in blood, he believed he was the first person attacked.
The attack
The mass stabbing took place on Saturday, 1 November 2025, at approximately 7:42 pm GMT on the 6:25 pm LNER service from Doncaster to London King’s Cross. The train was approaching Huntingdon in Cambridgeshire, about ten minutes after leaving Peterborough, when the assault began. Passengers described a sudden eruption of chaos. The train made an unscheduled emergency stop at Huntingdon station. Police arrested two men within eight minutes of the first emergency calls. One, a 35‑year‑old, was later released without charge. The other, a 32‑year‑old Black British national, remains in custody on suspicion of attempted murder. That suspect has been identified as Anthony Williams, 32, who has stated he has no fixed abode. Williams has been charged with ten counts of attempted murder in connection with the train attack. He also faces charges linked to an incident at Pontoon Dock DLR station in London earlier the same day, including attempted murder and possession of a bladed article, and has been linked to three incidents in Peterborough on 31 October and 1 November, one of which involved a stabbing of a 14‑year‑old. Police have ruled out terrorism, describing the incident as isolated; the motive remains unclear.
The escape
As the attack unfolded, Gjoshe’s instinct was to run and warn others. “I remember jumping over the table, jumping over the chairs. I was just running down the corridor, telling people, ‘there’s a guy with a knife, run, I’ve been stabbed, run, run, run’. I was screaming.” He pulled the train’s emergency alarm. His actions, combined with those of an LNER staff member who attempted to stop the attacker, are credited with saving many lives. That staff member sustained life‑threatening injuries and remains in critical but stable condition, and is being hailed as a hero. Eleven people in total were treated in hospital. Initially nine of the injured were reported to have life‑threatening injuries; by the following evening, Sunday 2 November, five had been discharged, with one still in a life‑threatening condition.
The aftermath
For Gjoshe, the physical wounds were only the beginning. Months of rehabilitation followed. The knife, he was told, had gone through muscle. But the psychological toll has been profound. He has spoken of the “split‑second” decision‑making that saved him and others, but also of the lasting shock of the normalcy of train travel being violently shattered. The attack came the day after Halloween, leading to initial confusion among some passengers. Gjoshe, who was on loan at Bottesford Town from Scunthorpe United at the time, missed half a season because of his injuries and rehabilitation. In May 2026 he was released by Scunthorpe United, a disappointment he has now processed as he attempts to return to football. His career has included spells with Spelthorne Sports, Colliers Wood, Walton and Hersham, Chipstead, Kingstonian, and Hanworth Villa, and he was named young player of the year at Corinthian Casuals last season. Now, he is hoping to get back on the pitch.
The attack has also reignited broader concerns about knife crime on public transport. In the year to March 2024, there were approximately 50,000 knife‑related offences in England and Wales. Statistics for 2024‑25 show a 24% increase in antisocial behaviour incidents on public transport. The UK Transport Secretary has announced a review of rail security and plans for increased visible police patrols. Airport‑style scanning has been ruled out, but the government has promised improved CCTV and exploration of facial recognition technology. The British Transport Police are already running operations such as “Operation Engulf” – using knife arches, plain‑clothed officers and increased patrols – to tackle the problem. Other recent incidents include a knife fight at Streatham Common station on 17 May 2026, which led to three arrests and significant disruption, and a “frenzied” knife attack at Imperial Wharf railway station in West London in June 2025, for which a man was jailed. For passengers and survivors like Gjoshe, the sense of safety on everyday journeys has been shaken. He is still living with the memory of a 7:42 pm train that became a scene of violence, and with the knowledge that the knife that struck him was part of a wider pattern the authorities are still struggling to contain.
