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Stephen Crean was stabbed six times when he tried to stop the knifeman (Picture: Jordan Pettitt/PA Wire) A heroic Nottingham Forest fan on his way home from a football match spoke of trying to stop a rampaging knife attacker with his bare hands. Football fan Stephen Crean, 61, described the moment the attacker asked him ‘do you want to die?’ during the stabbing incident on board the LNER train on Saturday. He was on his way back to London from watching Nottingham Forest play against Man United when the attack unfolded in the packed train. The high-speed train from Doncaster to London King’s Cross was trundling along as usual when suddenly people began shouting and urging others to run. To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video Up Next Previous Page Next Page Panicked passengers pressed the emergency buttons on board the train when the attack began at about 6.25pm, and the driver was able to pull into Huntingdon station. Mr Crean said a young woman ran past shouting ‘knife, knife, there’s a man with a big knife,’ prompting other travellers to run down into the restaurant car. Fuelled by his motivation to protect others, he confronted the attacker with his fists, saying he was armed with a ‘sword-type thing.’ Forensic teams investigated the LNER Azuma train (Picture: Reuters) Mr Crean said he ‘didn’t have much choice’ and that ‘there was nowhere to go.’ After the attacker’s chilling question, he felt the ‘knife going into my arm.’ He said: ‘I was lucky. I got caught on the back a few times. They caught me a few times. The front of me, and my other arm. In the face and everything. ‘I’m going to need plastic surgery. One finger doesn’t look clever. I’ve had stitches on them all. ‘I don’t know how long it’s going to take.’ Football fan Stephen Crean said he will need surgery following the train stabbing (Picture: Jordan Pettitt/PA Wire) Despite being stabbed six times, including on his head, back, face and arm, he managed to lock himself inside a toilet until armed police arrived at the scene. Among the 11 injured victims is Scunthorpe United defender Jonathan Gjoshe, who suffered non-life-threatening injuries, his club said. The 22-year-old was reportedly cut on his bicep and has undergone an operation in hospital, where he remains. Football player Jonathan Gjoshe, 22, was also among the injured and remains in hospital (Picture: Scunthorpe United) Mr Crean and train staff have been hailed as heroes following their actions. A member of the train crew was seriously injured when he intercepted the attacker. He is in a critical but stable condition in the hospital. Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood told the Commons today: ‘I would also like to pay tribute to the breathtaking bravery of those on the train itself, including the heroic acts of the passengers and train crew who intercepted the attacker. I would like to draw particular attention to one member of the onboard crew, who ran towards danger, confronting the attacker for a sustained period of time, and stopped his advance through the train. ‘He put himself in harm’s way, suffered grievous injuries as a result, and remains in hospital today, in a critical but stable condition. ‘On Saturday, he went to work to do his job. Today, he is a hero and forever will be.’ The attack led to calls for facial recognition technology to be rolled out nationally. The use of facial recognition cameras has been criticised due to concerns over privacy and the risk of misidentification. Ms Mahmood said the government will consult on the legal framework ‘so that all police forces across the country can use live facial recognition technology, confident that they will not find themselves defending those decisions in courts in the future.’ Get in touch with our news team by emailing us at webnews@metro.co.uk. For more stories like this, check our news page.
