Do you want to die?

Attacker's threat to hero passenger, 3 earlier incidents probed for link

- DAN WARBURTON in Huntingdon

A HEROIC passenger told how the Huntingdon train knifeman asked him "do you want to die?" as he fought to stop the rampage.

Nottingham Forest fan Stephen Crean, 61, was among three people singled out for praise for their efforts during Saturday's horrific attack.

Suspect Anthony Williams, 32, was charged in court with 11 counts of attempted murder yesterday.

And police were last night investigating whether three incidents which took place hours earlier were linked to the stabbings.

Stephen said he pinned down the attacker's arm on the 6.25pm Doncaster to London LNER service.

Reliving the moment he stepped in to stop the eight-minute rampage with his bare fists, Stephen said: "It was just me against him. So I was just trying to hold him in his hand and the blade was going all around.

"It was right up close, it was like a sword - that's what it felt like. He was waving this blade in my face. He said 'Do you want to die?" three times." Stephen was travelling home to London after watching Forest draw 2-2 to Manchester United.

He said he was stabbed six times but managed to lock himself in a train toilet until armed police arrived.

He added: "My motive was to protect people. I was scared, but then it went away. You just do whatever, you just go with it." Williams, 32, appeared at Peterborough magistrates' court charged with 10 counts of attempted murder for the train rampage.

He was also charged with a further count of attempted murder and possessing a blade after an incident in London before lam on Saturday.

British-born Williams also faces one count of actual bodily harm and one of possessing a bladed article.

Prosecutors said a person trying to protect members of the public suffered life-threatening injuries after a knife attack at Pontoon Dock on the Docklands Light Railway.