I could have done more to stop Tube knifeman, says victim
A have-a-go hero has insisted he could have done more to stop a Tube attack by an Islamic State-inspired knifeman, who will be sentenced today.
Somali-born Muhiddin Mire, 30, targeted strangers at random in the ticket hall at Leytonstone Underground station in east London on December 5 last year.
He is due to be sentenced for attempted murder at the Old Bailey in London.
Lift engineer David Pethers, who was slashed on the neck as he confronted Mire, said he does not consider himself a hero and added: "Anyone could have done it."
Speaking to ITV's Good Morning Britain, Mr Pethers was visibly distressed as he said: "It has affected me quite a lot, I didn't realise until having to talk about it right now.
"In my mind I could have done more. I know it sounds silly but looking at the footage and going over it in my mind, I could have taken him down before."
He added: "A lot of people ask me what was going through my mind and I can't answer."
Mire targeted 56-year-old musician Lyle Zimmerman as they travelled on the same train from Stratford to Leytonstone, where the knifeman lived alone in Sansom Road.
Mr Zimmerman stood out from the crowd in cowboy boots and a hat, carrying a mandolin in one hand and an amplifier in the other and with a guitar strapped to his back.
Mire followed him off the train and produced a black-handled knife with a serrated edge from his pocket.
As Mr Zimmerman approached the barriers, Mire grabbed him from behind and swung him around and on to the floor. Mire then kicked him repeatedly around the head and body as a woman nearby called for him to stop.
As Mr Zimmerman lay defenceless on the ground, Mire crouched down and began to "saw" at his neck with the serrated blade in front of shocked passengers.
A junior doctor on his way home rushed to help stem the blood flowing from Mr Zimmerman's wounds as Mire went up to street level.
One onlooker shouted at him during the attack, "You ain't no Muslim, bruv", after Mire declared he was going to "spill blood" for his "Syrian brothers".
He continued to threaten members of the public before police arrived with Tasers.
