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A 32-year-old British man has been charged with 10 counts of attempted murder over a knife attack on a train, an incident British police say is not being treated as terrorism-related.
Eleven people were injured in the mass stabbing on the train on Saturday night local time, including a member of the train crew who remains in hospital in a critical but stable condition. That person was hurt while trying to stop the accused from stabbing others.
The attack, on a London-bound train which then stopped at Huntingdon about 130km north of London, shocked the country, and prompted statements from Prime Minister Keir Starmer and King Charles, who sent their sympathies to those affected.
Britain’s Crown Prosecution Service said Anthony Williams, 32, was charged on Monday with 11 counts of attempted murder, one count of assault occasioning actual bodily harm and two counts of possession of a bladed article.
According to British Transport Police, ten of the attempted murder charges stemmed from the assault on the train, while the eleventh charge was related to a separate event at a station in East London that occurred earlier that day.
Williams, who is from Peterborough in eastern England, will appear at Peterborough Magistrates Court later on Monday, they said, adding that the charges were brought after a review of CCTV footage from the train, among other evidence.
Transport minister Heidi Alexander confirmed on Monday that the man was not known to security services. She declined to comment on whether he was known to mental health services.
Five of the injured had been discharged from hospital by late Sunday.
