Hero Stephen Crean has spoken out about how he tackled a knife wielding thug on a train between Doncaster and London.
10 people were injured, including Mr Crean, on Saturday after a man decided to attack his fellow passengers.
On The Hard Shoulder, Mr Crean, whose mother is Dublin and his father from Roscommon, recalled that he knew something was wrong when people began running along the train carriage.
“There was a girl and she ran by and shouted, ‘There is a man with a big knife - run,’” he said.
“There were a few of them; they went past and I followed them - they were heading to the buffet car.”
The appalling incident on a train near Huntingdon is deeply concerning.
My thoughts are with all those affected, and my thanks go to the emergency services for their response.
Anyone in the area should follow the advice of the police.
— Keir Starmer (@Keir_Starmer) November 1, 2025
Although Mr Crean followed them as quickly as he could, by the time he reached the buffet car, he found that it was completely filled up with petrified passengers.
“So, I came back and your man’s there looking at me,” he continued.
“He pulls this big blade out and he says, ‘Do you want to die?’ to my face.”
He then thrust his knife towards Mr Crean, leaving him in “quite a bad way”.
“It looks like I’ve got to go tomorrow to the plastic surgeon for a scan,” he added.
“We’ll see tomorrow but it looks like it’s going to be surgery on at least one of the fingers.”
My thoughts today are with all those affected by Saturday night’s attack in Huntingdon.
My deepest thanks are due to the emergency services for their exemplary response and professionalism.
And I pay tribute to the breathtaking bravery of those on the train itself, including… pic.twitter.com/ZqxQuymaiT
— Shabana Mahmood MP (@ShabanaMahmood) November 3, 2025
The thug kept slashing around with the knife and there was at least one “really close shave”.
“I managed to push him away from me and he’s fallen over,” Mr Crean continued.
“I went away from him then and back into a toilet where there was no one in it.
“By that time, I was bleeding lots and I turned around as if to say, ‘You can’t get in there now.’
“I was sort of grinning.”
We are currently responding to an incident on a train to Huntingdon where multiple people have been stabbed.
Officers are in attendance alongside @CambsCops and two people have been arrested.
Further updates will be shared here.
— British Transport Police (@BTP) November 1, 2025
However, he was losing quite a lot of blood and he dialled 999, seeking urgent assistance.
“They picked up straight away,” he said.
It was only when he heard people on walkie talkies that he knew the authorities had arrived.
“I knew it was the Army or the police - that type of thing,” he recalled.
“Once I opened the door… they said, ‘Don’t worry, we got him.’”
A 32 year old man has been charged with 10 counts of attempted murder.
A CrowdFunder has been set up to provide Mr Crean with financial support while he recovers from the attack.
Main image: Stephen Crean. Picture by: JustGiving.
