Advertising manager staged four attacks on the Household Cavalry

An advertising manager who threatened at Pret A Manger with a hammer had carried out four bizarre attacks on the Household Cavalry, a court heard

Monyaka Serutla, 49, launched damaged trucks and terrorised horses belonging to the elite regiment.

He smashed up a Skoda Fabia car on September 17 last year before unleashing an attack on a Ford Transit truck and a DAF horse lorry on October 25.

DAF lorries carry between four and six cavalry horses known as Cavalry Blacks for state ceremonies like Trooping the Colour.

He then damaged a Ford Transit truck – used to transport Royal Cavalry soldiers around London on October 27 before wrecking a Skoda Superb two days later.

It is unclear whether military personnel or soldiers were in the vehicles when the attacks occurred.

Serulta was given an 18-month community order today for robbery, possession of an offensive weapon and possession of a bladed article.

He admitted robbing Pret A Manger in Piccadilly, threatening a shop worker with a hammer and having a stanley knife in Hyde Park on 13 November last year.

Dickon Edwards, prosecuting, said Serutla told the victim: ‘Don’t come near me I’m going to beat you with a hammer’ before grabbing £20 worth of food.

Serulta was previously sectioned under the Mental Health Act but released after three months and moved to supported living in Dewsbury, West Yorkshire.

Judge Gregory Perrins said that after watching the CCTV footage: ‘It is not a case of brandishing the hammer and waving it around, it’s more a case of letting the assistant manager know he has it.’

‘It must have been a very frightening experience for the victim,’ he added.

Oliver Kavanagh, defending, told the court today of Serulta’s struggles with mental health including hearing voices for many years and believing in conspiracy theories.

Mr Kavanagh added that Serulta believed ‘Pret A Manger to be part of some sort of Freemasons network’.

Before his mental health issues, the court heard how Serulta had a long ‘career in advertising at the Daily Express’.

Since his arrest, he has been diagnosed with schizophrenia and is being treated, the barrister said: ‘all the reports say he is doing very well indeed’.

Judge Gregory Perrins told Serulta: ‘You’ve been employed for long periods of time in good jobs. Unfortunately for you, your mental health issues have impacted your ability to work in recent times.

His mental health ‘had a direct bear upon your actions that day,’ the judge added.

Due to his progress following proper treatment, the judge said Serulta was ‘in a significantly better place’.

He added: ‘Stick with it and hopefully things will improve.’

Serulta will also be subject to a 12-month mental health treatment requirement.

Following the attacks on the Royal Household Cavalry Regiment Serulta will be sentenced for criminal damage at Westminster Magistrate’s Court on May 19.

He earlier admitted four counts of destroying or damaging property of a value unknown.