On Wednesday British Transport Police received reports from frantic passengers of two men fighting between Beckenham and Shortlands railway station. One of them was masked, hooded and reported to be carrying a bladed weapon, which could be seen in multiple videos which circulated on social media later that day. Footage of the attack was filmed by passengers who witnessed it, some of those witnesses were young children who were left traumatised by the event. Throughout the footage, commuters can be heard pleading with Thomas to stop the attack as he continued to lunge toward his wounded victim. British Transport Police have since reported that the victim, who remains unidentified, is in his20s and currently in a critical but stable condition in hospital.

The attack is one of many highlighting the urgent need to tackle Britain's knife crime, as later that same day two men were left in a critical condition after another stabbing at Kennington Tube station, South London. As of January 2024,according to statistics across England and Wales, knife crime has risen by 5% -a considerable amount of which is perpetrated by and against our youth.

Thomas has been remanded into custody until his hearing at Wimbledon Magistrates' Court on Saturday (March 30th). Following Thomas’ arrest, Superintendent Darren Malpas issued the following statement:

“We understand the concerns of the public following this incident and our detectives have been working tirelessly to investigate. I hope this arrest will bring some reassurance to those on the rail network. High-visibility patrols will continue in the area and across the network as a visible reassurance to the travelling public.”

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