PLEASE ...DON'T KILL ME

Woman begged for mercy after tripping, 11 hurt with brave rail worker critical

- DAN WARBURTON in Huntingdon

TERRIFIED train passengers locked themselves in toilets and cowered with makeshift weapons during a knife rampage.

The eight-minute attack on the LNER service on Saturday evening left 11 people in hospital.

Last night, cops said a heroic LNER staff member who tried to stop the attacker was the only remaining person in critical care.

One woman recalled begging for her life after falling to the floor, leaving her at the mercy of the knifeman. Dayna Arnold, 48, was separated from her partner, Andy Gray, 37, and feared the worst.

She said: "I just said: 'Please... don't kill me. Something shifted in his face and he just carried on. He said, 'The devil is not going to win." Witnesses described "pure panic" as the knifeman moved through the carriage, warning people to run while slashing them, sending trapped passengers fleeing down the carriage.

Dayna added: "We just feel very lucky today. If we had been sat at the other end of the carriage, we might not have been here." Andy said: "I didn't see him but I saw the knife moving, plunging.

"I pushed Dayna but we were separated. There was this young lad who was about 19 or 20. He had gashes on his arm and a severe puncture under his arm. There was a lot of blood coming out of him.

"He said, 'I've been stabbed, please help me'. It looked like an artery had been hit. I took off my belt and made a tourniquet. He was saying, 'Please call my dad, I don't want to die"." A 32-year-old British man was arrested on suspicion of attempted murder and remains in police custody. He is from Peterborough and it is known that he boarded the train at Peterborough station.

Police confirmed he is being treated as the only suspect. A 35-year-old from London who was also arrested at the scene has been released.

Deputy Chief Constable Stuart Cundy said: "Specialist detectives are looking into the background of the suspect we have in custody and the events that led up to the attack.