A man who was arrested outside Buckingham Palace and charged with carrying knives and a wire saw has gone on the run after failing to turn up to court for a hearing.
John Bolton, 47, of Banbury in Oxon was arrested just days before Her Majesty The Queen’s 90th birthday in June at Hyde Park Corner on suspicion of possessing an offensive weapon in public.
Bolton was later charged with three counts of possessing a knife and one count of possessing a wire saw in public.
He was scheduled to attend Westminster Magistrates’ Court on August 4, but failed to show up.
A warrant has now been issued by the court for his arrest for not answering his bail conditions.
According to The Sun newspaper, Bolton was wearing a fake SAS beret and had a military radio when he was arrested.
He told officers that Prince Philip had personally requested his presence outside of the gate, and that he had been on guard duty for five days with his dog, which was later found in the boot of his car along with the offensive weapons.
There have been many security breaches as of late at the royal residences.
In May, convicted murderer Denis Hennessy was found walking around the Buckingham Palace grounds after he scaled a wall.
Hennessy kept asking if the Queen was home after he was arrested by armed police officers on the grounds of the palace. The Queen and Duke of Edinburgh were in residence at the time.
he most famous breach came in 1982 when Michael Fagan broke into the Queen’s bedroom. Because the police officer guarding The Queen’s door had gone to walk the corgis, Her Majesty was left talking to Fagan for some time. Eventually, on Fagan’s request, The Queen rung through for a cigarette for him and Fagan was apprehended by Her Majesty’s Page, Paul Whybrew, until police arrived.
In 1992 a helicopter carrying the Queen and Prince Philip was forced to divert as an intruder roamed the palace grounds. Kevin McMahon, 25, was detained but managed to break into the grounds again days later.
Two years later, in 1994, a naked American paraglider landed on the palace roof. Armed police were waiting to swoop on Brett De La Mare, 36, who was pursued by a police helicopter as he flew low over central London. He circled the palace before landing in the forecourt where the changing of the guard ceremony takes place. No members of the royal family were in the building at the time.
And, in 2003, it emerged that a national newspaper reporter had worked undercover as a footman there. Daily Mirror reporter Ryan Parry posed for two months as a footman and had access to the royal family’s personal apartments. He left the Palace shortly before President George Bush arrived for his state visit. Aside from the Fagan intrusion, Parry’s stint remains one of the biggest breaches of Palace security in recent history.
The responsibility of securing the monarch’s London residence is split between the Metropolitan Police and the British Army. During the day, the Army presence is the most overt and widely-recognised with soldiers dressed in ceremonial uniform stationed in gearboxes outside. Although in this capacity they’re largely ceremonial, they still play a vital part in securing the Palace.
The Police provide a visible armed and unarmed presence in and around the palace – during the day the Police have the largest role in security. The Royal Protection Squad is made up of experienced officers who are all firearms and driving experts trained by the SAS. They are backed up by a system of alarms and widespread CCTV.
It’s worth noting that the sentries outside the Palace have sentry boxes to protect them from bad weather. “Gearboxes” (above) are a part of a vehicle transmission system.
Been the size of the palace building and courtyard the security team posted are doing a good job but from my evaluation and past experience those who have entered th palace by door or scaling a wall are the same they know the practice of the guards and their movements so it might be better to be more changeable in practice of royal security.
There is no mention in this artical of Jhon Bolton being ex military, In fact this man was actually a Grenidian Guard 27 years ago. He has suffered complicated mental health issues after leaving the army and clearly is experiencing a difficult time and is not very well. The police arrested Shane after this incident and then sectioned him to the priory hospital. To then release him out of hospital saying he was fit to be in public and now out on bail he has gone missing. They should have helped him and kept him in hospital for some time intill he was better as he is proberly exsperianceing post traumatic stress from his military years. I would assume he only went to Buckingham palace as it is a connection to his past as a Grenadian guard. He would bring no harm to the Queen or the Blenheim palace as he feels it’s his duty to protect even now 27 years later. He really should be getting the support he needs considering he served the queen and her country!