Cops may have 'missed chance' after being called to multiple knife incidents before mass train stabbing
Police have confirmed they were called to three incidents before a knife attack on a train.
Cops may have missed chances to arrest the Huntingdon train attack suspect after admitting they were called to multiple knife-related incidents prior to Saturday's rampage.
Cambridgeshire Police had been called to three incidents in Peterborough prior to Saturday night's attack near Huntingdon Station in which ten people were seriously injured. And it admitted officers didn't even visit the scene on one occasion. Police in London were also called to investigate a stabbing in the early hours of the morning before the incident, but no-one was detained, reports the Mirror.
Officers said in a statement released just hours after Anthony Williams, 32, appeared in court charged with eleven counts of attempted murder, that three knife-related incidents on Friday and Saturday happened .
In a statement, the force said: “We are aware of three incidents that occurred in Peterborough on Friday evening (31 October) and Saturday morning (1 November). The first incident of a man with a knife at a barbers in Fletton happened at 7.25pm on Friday but was reported to us at 9.10pm – two hours after the incident occurred.
“At the time of reporting the man was no longer there and had not returned, so we did not send officers, but a crime was raised. The second incident was reported to us at 9.25am on Saturday again by the barbers in Fletton while the man was still at the scene.
"Officers were deployed to the location and arrived within 18 minutes. Upon searching the area, officers were unable to locate the man or identify him and a crime was raised. There was also a third incident that police also believe may be linked which also happened on Friday 31 October at 7.10pm, where a 14-year-old was stabbed by a man with a knife in the city centre."
"They were taken to Peterborough City Hospital with minor injuries and were later discharged. The offender had left the scene when the call was made and despite a search of the area by officers and a police dog, the offender was not identified.
"A crime was raised and an investigation commenced, with scenes of crime attending. We are currently reviewing all incidents in the timeframe to understand whether there were any further potential offences. British Transport Police retain primacy for the overall investigation, which will include these three incidents.
“We voluntarily referred ourselves to the IOPC for independent scrutiny of these incidents, as is standard practice in these cases.”
Anthony Williams, 32, of no fixed abode appeared in court charged with eleven counts of attempted murder following the attacks on Saturday.
Williams appeared at Peterborough Magistrates’ Court this morning, charged with 10 counts of attempted murder, one count of actual bodily harm and one count of possession with a bladed article in Cambridgeshire.
He was also charged with one count of attempted murder in London in the early hours of Saturday, November 1, and possession of a bladed article in relation to the incident. He has been remanded to appear at Cambridge Crown Court on December 1.