The man who scaled the perimeter wall of Buckingham Palace while the Queen and Prince Philip were in residence is a convicted murderer, it emerged today.
Dennis Hennessy, 41, was able to “admire” the gardens for 10 minutes before he was held by armed police. As he was detained, he asked repeatedly: “Is Ma’am in?” The Queen, Duke of Edinburgh and Duke of York were in residence.
Hennessy was jailed for four months today at Westminster magistrates’ court after pleading guilty to one count of trespass on a protected site and one of criminal damage.
The court heard that Hennessy, of Wembley, was on licence after being convicted of the murder of a homeless Kevin Cusack, 45, with an iron bar in Neasden, north-west London in June 1992. Hennessy also stamped on his victim’s head. At the palace, he cut his right hand as he climbed over the wall and set off the alarm. Prosecutor Tom Nicholson said he then walked around the gardens for about 10 minutes towards the palace before he was arrested.
The prosecution said: “Her Majesty the Queen was in residence with the Duke of Edinburgh and the Duke of York. It caused significant inconvenience and meant a full-scale alert strategy was implemented.
“There would have been a full search of the gardens involving dogs and helicopters and search officers. They had to check if anything had been secreted and whether the defendant was alone or accompanied.”
In an interview Hennessy told police he had “walked through the gardens admiring the view”. Chief magistrate, senior district judge Howard Riddle, sentenced him to four months for trespassing and two months, to run concurrently, for damaging the wires of the alarm system.
Mr Nicholson said: “On the 18 May at about 8.37pm the defendant climbed over the perimeter wall. The wall is between eight and 10 feet high, topped by barbed wire and alarm wires. When climbing over, he activated the alarm, breaking the system. He walked through the gardens to the house and was challenged by armed police.”
Defence solicitor Sikander Choudry said: “There was a tree where had got a leg up from and he climbed into the palace gardens. He didn’t have any malicious intent.
MORE ABOUT