Man guilty of attempted murder over machete attack on the tube
Commuters say it was like the film ‘Terminator'
Last updated 20th May 2022
A man has been found guilty of attempted murder after attacking a commuter on the underground with a machete.
Jurors at the Old Bailey heard how passengers toppled over each other as they fled through carriages, when 34-year-old Ricky Morgan launched an unprovoked assault on James Porritt in July last year.
What happened at the tube machete attack?
Morgan, 34, was armed with machete and heard to tell horrified onlookers: "This is not a terror attack, I only want him."
Mr Porritt, who suffered a severe injury to his hand, told jurors it was like a "horror movie" and the Arnold Schwarzenegger sci-fi film Terminator.
Morgan denied attempted murder on grounds of insanity, he declined to give evidence in court.
He was found guilty by a jury at the Old Bailey after two days of deliberations and convicted of carrying a machete and a lock knife.
Judge John Hillen adjourned sentencing until July 22 for a psychiatric report to be prepared.
James Porritt’s response to the attack
Mr Porritt beamed and embraced a British Transport Police officer before leaving court.
He said in a statement: "This trial has been another significant part of my healing process since the attack on the 9th of July 2021.
"The events that took place on the Jubilee line train during rush hour have changed my family, my girlfriend's and my life forever; as well as every single person who witnessed the attack on the train that evening.
"It's been a long and traumatic road that I have had to travel. I am still in the process of recovery. Until I reach that destination, it's a road I continue to walk.
"The scars from this attack on my legs, elbow, arm, face/head and my entire right hand, will remain with me for the rest of my life. My surgeon is unable to determine if I will ever regain the full use of my right, dominant hand."
“Brutal and unprovoked attack”
Following the verdicts, police released graphic CCTV footage showing Morgan shouting and thrashing with the machete inside the carriage as terrified passengers scrambled to get away.
Detective Sergeant Nick Thompson, of the British Transport Police, said: "This was a brutal and unprovoked attack. The two men had never spoken, never met and had never crossed paths until that day.
"Clearly it was a terrifying situation for the victim, he was able to escape but this attack and the injuries he suffered continue to have a substantial impact on his life.”
Prosecutor Grace Ong had told jurors that Mr Porritt and Morgan were complete strangers.
She said: "This was, the prosecution say, a completely unprovoked attack on a commuter on the Jubilee line going about his daily business."
Machete attack on the London Underground
On the night of 9 July 2021, Mr Porritt was on a train at Westminster before Morgan produced a machete and lock knife from his rucksack near Green Park.
In a video interview played in court, Mr Porritt described minding his own business and being in a "bubble" as he sat in the carriage looking at his phone.
He heard a scream and the next thing he knew was the defendant hitting him over the head, the court was told.
He put his hand up to protect himself during the onslaught and describing the attack, he said: "I was pleading please stop, please stop.
"I was in shock, it was like a horror movie I genuinely thought he was going to kill me, he was like a machine… it was like that movie Terminator.”
"I didn't understand why this guy was hitting me, there was no confrontation, no issue, it was just bang, (he) started hitting me.
“People were terrified”
"I just knew, fight or flight. I just ran for my life. It was like a stampede, people were terrified."
Mr Porritt said Morgan put the "huge" blade through the window of the connecting carriage door and said: "I don't want anyone else, I just want him," the court heard.
He managed to get away and through a carriage door while holding the severed parts of his hand together, he also suffered bone-deep cuts to his head and shin.
According to witnesses, passengers got up and screamed when the attacker started waving the knife around, many ended in a panic piled on the floor.
One witness said the attacker let out an "unholy scream" as he hit out with the machete.
He was heard to say: "This is not a terrorist attack, I only want him, I don't want to kill you, I want to kill him, he was trying to kill me."
On being confronted by police, Morgan dropped the blade, put his hands up and got on the floor.
He told officers it was "a road issue" not a "terrorist attack", adding: "If I had known it would cause this much drama I would not have done it."
Morgan was to tell a psychiatrist he had been carrying the machete and lock knife around for some time, the court heard he also had an almost empty bottle of vodka in his rucksack.