Man held on terrorism offences after driving car at UK Houses of Parliament, injuring three
A British man was arrested on suspicion of terror offences yesterday after a car was driven into cyclists and pedestrians outside the Houses of Parliament in London.
Three people were injured in the rush-hour incident.
The Metropolitan Police said they were treating the “deliberate act” as terrorism.
The arrested man is believed to live in Birmingham.
The Met said the car was driven down to London on Monday evening and parked at Tottenham Court Road overnight. It was driven around the city centre for more than an hour before the Westminster crash.
“The driver of the car, a 29-year-old man, who is a UK national, was arrested at the scene by armed officers,” according to a witness appeal.
The Met said “as part of their inquiries, detectives are carrying out searches at two addresses in Birmingham and an address in Nottingham. These searches remain ongoing and are being carried out by officers from the Met’s CounterTerrorism Command”.
Police sealed off the area outside the Houses of Parliament and Whitehall. Westminster Underground station was closed but later reopened.
The UK’s anti-terrorism chief, Neil Basu, said yesterday the man was unco-operative with police and that officers had not “formally identified him, but we don’t believe he was known to police or MI5 before”.
“The man, who is in his late twenties, was arrested on suspicion of terrorism offences and has been taken to a South London police station where he remains in custody,” he said. “Given that this appears to be a deliberate act, the method and this being a famous site, we are treating it as a terrorist incident. Officers are searching the vehicle [but] no other weapons have been found at this time.”
The car veered to the opposite side of the road, hitting cyclists, before crashing into barriers. One of the injured was discharged from St Thomas’ Hospital yesterday.
Prime Minister Theresa May said: “My thoughts are with the innocent members of the public who were hurt in this appalling incident.
“I wish them a speedy recovery and we must be thankful that nobody suffered life-threatening injuries.”
Officials held a meeting of emergency committee Cobra in response to the incident.