WHAT WAS CLAIMED
African immigrants were behind the stabbing attack on a UK train.
OUR VERDICT
False. The man charged over the attack was born in the UK.
AAP FACTCHECK - False claims that "African immigrants" carried out a mass stabbing on a UK train are being spread by Australian social media users.
Authorities confirmed the sole male charged over the attack was born in the UK.
Multiple people were stabbed on a train travelling from Doncaster in northern England to London on November 1.
The train made an emergency stop at Huntingdon station after police received calls about people being stabbed onboard, the BBC reported.
The false claim about the suspect's identity appears in a Facebook post from an Australian user.
"BREAKING Mass Stabbing in England," the November 2 post reads.
"10 People have been stabbed on a train in Huntington (sic).
"A major incident has unfolded on an LNER train in Cambridgeshire after multiple passengers were stabbed by African immigrants.
"England is under siege. This is daily now, just like Melbourne."
Police initially arrested two individuals but one man, identified as a UK-born British national of Caribbean descent, was later released without charge.
"It was reported in good faith to officers responding to the incident that he was involved in the attack, and following enquiries we can confirm that he was not involved," British Transport Police said in a November 2 statement.
The sole suspect has been named as Anthony Williams, 32, a black British man from the city of Peterborough.
British Transport Police Superintendent John Loveless confirmed in a press conference that Williams was born in the UK.
There is nothing to suggest the attack was a terrorist incident, he said.
Williams was charged with 10 counts of attempted murder, one count of actual bodily harm and one count of possession of a bladed article in relation to the incident at Huntingdon.
He has also been charged with another count of attempted murder and possession of a bladed article in connection to an incident at Pontoon Dock station, in east London, just after midnight on November 1, according to the BBC.
Cambridgeshire Police also said they were investigating whether three separate incidents in Peterborough were linked to Williams, after reports a man with a knife was seen twice at a barber shop and a 14-year-old boy was stabbed on the evening of October 31, the ABC reported.
In August, the National Police Chiefs' Council released new national guidelines for disclosing the ethnicity and nationality of suspects in a move that aims to improve transparency and address potential misinformation and disinformation.
"We have to make sure our processes are fit for purpose in an age of social media speculation and where information can travel incredibly quickly across a wide range of channels," Deputy Chief Constable Sam de Reya said in a statement.
"Disinformation and incorrect narratives can take hold in a vacuum."
AAP FactCheck is an accredited member of the International Fact-Checking Network. To keep up with our latest fact checks, follow us on Facebook, Instagram, Threads, X, BlueSky, TikTok and YouTube.
