Palace intruder killed tramp by battering him to death with a metal pipe
A convicted murderer who sneaked into the grounds of Buckingham Palace while the Queen was in residence has been jailed for four months.
Denis Hennessy, 41, climbed over a 10 foot wall topped with barbed wire at Hyde Park Corner and prowled around the gardens of the royal residence for 10 minutes at 8.37pm yesterday.
Armed police, search dogs, and a helicopter swept through the gardens on high alert after Hennessy broke alarm wires as he clambered up a tree and over the wall.
When police found the ex con within 50 metres of the Palace he said he had been ‘admiring the well-kept gardens’ and repeatedly asked ‘is Ma’am here?’.
The Queen was in residence with the Duke of Edinburgh and the Duke of York.
Today (Fri) Westminster Magistrates’ Court heard that Hennessy was convicted of murder after battering a homeless man to death with an iron bar on 19 June 1992.
Prosecutor Tom Nicholson said: ‘On the 18 May 2016 at about 8.37pm the defendant climbed over the perimeter wall into the gardens of Buckingham Palace.
‘The wall is between eight and ten feet high topped by barbed wire and alarm wires.
‘When climbing over the wall he activated the alarm breaking the system by breaking the wires in question.
‘He walked through the gardens to the house and was challenged by armed police.
‘He was detained after about ten minutes or so on the Buckingham Palace site.’
Hennessy appeared in the dock wearing a dark green pullover and light blue jeans as he pleaded guilty to one count of trespassing on a protected site and one count of criminal damage.
He was jailed for four months for trespassing and was given a concurrent two-month sentence for criminal damage to the alarm wires provided by the Home Office.
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