A passenger was left with serious damage to his finger after an ‘aggresive’ stranger bit him.
Detectives are looking for a man after an assault on board a train between London Cannon Street and Orpington, Surrey.
The violent incident unfolded at around 9.20pm on Thursday, May 21, when a man suddenly turned on fellow passengers.
He became abusive and aggressive, and threatened to kill passengers before attacking a man, who was not known to him, it is understood.
Other people jumped into action and tried to restrain the assailant.
But he then bit another male passenger’s finger, biting down so hard it caused a deep injury with nerve and ligament damage, the police said.
He continued to behave aggressively, trying to assult other people getting off the train at New Cross station.
British Transport Police launched an appeal to find a man officers believe may have information that could help with their investigation.
CCTV shows him wearing a cap with eyes printed on it, turqoise and black puffer jacket and grey jeans.
How safe is travel in London?
London public transport and the rail network carry millions of people daily.
Last year, the rate of violent incidents on the Transport for London network grew slightly to 4,703 from 4,478 in 2024.
The majority of violent incidents occured on the Underground in 2025 with 1,484 offenses recorded, followed by buses with 1,398.
The Elizabeth line saw an increase of 94 offenses in 2025 compared with the previous year. Most of the incident were violence without injury.
Westminster Tube station clocked the most offenses in 2025 with 589 reports.
The second station was Newham saw 344 offenses, followed by Camden with 310 in total.
Crucial time for offending was during the peak evening commute times between 4pm and 8pm.
On the Transport for London network, four people were killed and 173 seriously injured in 2025/26.
Most of the serious injuries involved buses (77), followed by the Underground (72).
Overall, travel on the TfL services remains relatively safe as the rate of crime per million passengers is 2.6.
Out of National Rail stations, the most crime occurred at Euston last year with 1,536 offenses, followed by King’s Cross (1,479) and London Bridge (1,074).
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