Man who turned up outside Parliament in armour carrying samurai swords wanted to 'speak with Boris Johnson'
14 November 2024, 18:44 | Updated: 14 November 2024, 18:54
A man who allegedly turned up outside Parliament wearing armour and carrying samurai swords wanted to "speak with Boris Johnson", a court has heard.
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Lewis Allington was arrested following the incident outside Parliament on Tuesday afternoon, which led to the Carriage Gates entrance being temporarily closed.
The 34-year-old, from March, Cambridgeshire, appeared at Westminster Magistrates' Court on Thursday charged with two counts of possession of bladed articles.
Malachy Pakenham, prosecuting, told the court the defendant travelled to London from Cambridgeshire, put on body armour, and attended Parliament "with two samurai swords, asking to see Boris Johnson".
Allington's defence lawyer Norman Cho told District Judge Briony Clarke that Allington had "no intention of harming someone with weapons".
District Judge Clarke sent the case to Southwark Crown Court for a plea and trial preparation hearing on December 12.
She told Allington, who was dressed in a red sweatshirt and green trousers, that he would be granted bail on condition that he remains at a Cambridgeshire and Peterborough NHS Trust facility, following a recent mental health assessment in Hammersmith.
Allington is not to enter London and the area within the M25, she added.
Before leaving the dock, Allington enquired about the swords and armour, to which the judge replied: "Nothing is being destroyed at the moment."
