Buckingham Palace knifeman arrested under Terrorism Act: police

Police officers stand guard at a police cordon next to Buckingham Palace following an incident where a man armed with a knife was arrested outside the palace following disturbance in London on Aug 26. Scotland Yard has

said two male police officers suffered minor injuries when they detained the man and were both treated by paramedics at the scene. (AFP) A man who attacked police with a knife outside Queen Elizabeth II’s Buckingham Palace residence in London has been arrested under the Terrorism Act, police said Saturday.

The 26-year-old attacker stopped his car near a police vehicle in a restricted area outside the world famous palace at around 8:35pm Friday (1935 GMT), according to a Metropolitan Police statement.

“Officers spotted a large knife in his vehicle and went to arrest him,” said the statement. “During the course of detaining the man, two male police officers suffered minor injuries to their arm.”

The officers required hospital treatment but have been discharged, according to police.

The man, who was initially arrested on suspicion of causing grievous bodily harm and assaulting police, was later arrested under the Terrorism Act 2000.

“Detectives from the Metropolitan Police’s Counter Terrorism Command are now investigating the incident,” police said.

The incident comes with Britain and much of Europe on high alert following a string of major attacks over the past two years – most of which have been claimed by, or blamed on, jihadists – and hours after a knife attack on soldiers in Brussels.

In Britain alone a total of 35 people have been killed in three attacks London and Manchester since March.

Two of those involved a vehicle ploughing into pedestrians.

The other attack was a bombing in May at a pop concert by US star Ariana Grande in the Manchester which killed 22 people including children. (AFP)

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