A man who wielded a knife at passengers on a busy Manchester train and threatened to kill them, has been jailed for 18 months following a British Transport Police investigation.
Shawana Ahmed Abdullah, aged 23, of no fixed abode, pleaded guilty to possessing and threatening with a bladed article and was sentenced at Manchester Crown Court on Thursday, 5 March.
He was also ordered to pay a victim surcharge of £149.
The court heard how Abdullah was travelling on board a train from Manchester Airport to Manchester Oxford Road station on Friday, 25 October, last year.
Passengers become anxious when Abdullah began talking to himself loudly in Arabic and acting erratically, pacing the carriage.
As he grew more agitated he declared he would kill them all. One passenger intervened and challenged Abdullah, asking him to be quiet and stop making threats.
At this point Abdullah produced a kitchen knife from his waistband.
Despite the terrifying circumstances, two passengers tackled Abdullah to the floor of the train and managed to disarm him.
Other passengers then stepped in to help subdue Abdullah until British Transport Police officers arrived at the station and arrested him.
Investigating officer PC Lee Reed said: “This was a terrifying experience for everyone on this busy Friday night service.
“What these two men did showed incredible bravery, in the face of real danger. I commend them both, and all the passengers who stepped in and also assisted our investigation.
“Abdullah is clearly a dangerous individual with sinister intentions and thankfully is now off the streets for a considerable amount of time.
“No-one should travel in fear and we are relentless in our focus to target resources to prevent and reduce crime.
“We have a network of uniformed police, plain clothed officers and more than 150,000 CCTV cameras looking out for those travelling on the railway every day of the year.
“Everyone has the right to be safe on trains or in stations and we are committed to making that happen.”
