Parliament trespasser said he was visiting ‘Prince Andrew and Prince Charles’
The court previously heard that the man was living in a hospital facility, having been sectioned under the Mental Health Act.
A trespasser who got into the Houses of Parliament told officers he was there “to visit Prince Andrew and Prince Charles”, a court heard.
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Devon Dorrall, 23, from Tilehurst, Berkshire, previously pleaded guilty at Westminster Magistrates’ Court to one count of trespassing on a protected site on November 30.
A maintenance engineer, who was on his way to the Cholmondeley Room, was walking up the corridor when he saw the defendant. The worker noticed he had a visitor’s pass but was unescorted, Malachy Pakenham, prosecuting, told the court on Monday.
The worker spoke to him about what he was doing in that part of the House of Lords, and the defendant said he was a victim of crime and was “effectively with Prince Harry”, but the prosecution added, “Prince Harry was nowhere to be seen”. The worker then left and returned with the police.
Dorrall “stared in a manner which was described as threatening by officers”, the court heard previously.
The court also previously heard that he mumbled at the officers saying “it was their fault”, called an officer a c***, and clenched his fist and “became aggressive in his mannerisms”.
The defendant gave an officer his name and address and said he had entered the parliamentary estate the day before, but Mr Pakenham said that was not the Crown’s case.
Mr Pakenham said: “The officer asked him some questions about what was his purpose of his visit… defendant said he’d come to the estate to visit Prince Andrew and Prince Charles from the royal family.”
The defendant was detained and arrested.
The prosecution said that during the last hearing, Dorrall was suffering a “psychotic episode” after the “consumption of illegal drugs”.
The court previously heard that he was living in a hospital facility, having been sectioned under the Mental Health Act.
During the last hearing, the court heard that Dorrall had previously been referred to the Prevent programme, and on Monday, a member of a liaison and diversion team told the court it had concerned a bomb hoax 10 years ago.
The liaison and diversion team worker also said Dorrall was displaying delusional characteristics.
Chief Magistrate Paul Goldspring said nobody had explained what the defendant was doing there, and Yasmin Eshaghian, defending, said: “I think that’s probably something he doesn’t know himself.”
The Daily Mail previously reported that Dorrall climbed onto the roof of the Parliamentary Education Centre and reached the Cholmondeley Room before the workman raised the alarm.
Dorrall, wearing a black shirt, black trousers, and sunglasses hanging from his shirt collar, pleaded guilty to a separate offence on Monday, criminal damage to property, and the sentencing for both offences was adjourned until December 1.
The court heard that two days before the trespassing offence, the defendant threw glass bottles at the doors of Be At One bar in Reading, Berkshire, causing £800 worth of damage.
In an interview the next day, he described himself as “acting as a prat” and “hadn’t got anywhere to sleep and in his words ‘was wandering around aimlessly'”, the prosecution said.
Mr Goldspring deferred the sentence and made conditions including: the defendant has to engage with the Prevent programme; not commit any new offending; engage with mental health services; an updated mental health services report was ordered to be made; and the defendant has to reside as directed by mental health services.
Mr Goldspring said: “The reality is that whilst you’re subject to the mental health sectioning, it’s difficult for this court to decide how to sentence you.”
A Metropolitan Police spokesman said after the incident: “Police were called at 1.04pm on Sunday November 30 to the Palace of Westminster where they arrested an intruder.
“He did not come into contact with members of either House.”