Man quizzed over train stabbing

The train remained at the station as investigations were carried out

Police are questioning a man after a passenger died on a train when he was stabbed in the chest.

Passengers fled in panic after a dispute broke out on a Virgin train from Glasgow to Paignton.

Staff managed to trap the knifeman in a carriage but he smashed his way out at Oxenholme Station, Cumbria.

Police later arrested a 21-year-old man from Skelmersdale, West Lancashire, in connection with the incident. The victim was 19 and from Gloucestershire.

British Transport Police confirmed a man had died on board the train between Penrith and Oxenholme.

Virgin Trains said the incident happened on its 10.10am service, and there were around 200 passengers on board at the time.

'Awful experience'

Passengers cleared from the train at Oxenholme spoke of panic and confusion and some were treated for shock by paramedics at the station.

The train remained at the station as investigations were carried out

Lee West, from Virgin Trains, said: "Our train manager on board moved people out of one of the carriages to a position of safety.

"The manager is able to lock doors between carriages so he got people away from where the person with the knife was and made sure they were safe.

"It is certainly something that has never happened on board one of our own services before."

The train remained at the station while investigations were carried out, causing severe disruption for people travelling south on the West Coast Main Line.

The stabbing comes amid heightened concerns about levels of knife crime just three days after the launch of a national knife amnesty.

High-profile knife attacks

Special police constable Nisha Patel-Nasri died when she was stabbed with her own kitchen knife on her doorstep in Wembley, north-west London, on 11 May.

On 18 May, promising footballer Kiyan Prince was stabbed to death in Edgware, north London. A 16-year-old has been charged with murder.

On Friday, a 14-year-old pupil in Birmingham was seriously injured when he was stabbed outside his school. Two 16-year-olds are being questioned.

And on Teesside on Wednesday night two students were stabbed on a university campus. Two teenagers have been charged with attempted murder.

A spokesman for British Transport Police (BTP) said: "This tragic death comes just a few days after the Home Office knife amnesty was launched.

"BTP has also been rolling out Operation Shield, involving the use of portable metal detector arches and hand held scanners, across the country. Several deployments have already taken place in the north west."