Man charged for ‘wielding axe’ near Buckingham Palace

LONDON: A man has been charged after he allegedly wielded an axe near Buckingham Palace.

Private security guards working on The Mall were alerted by a member of the public to a man apparently carrying an axe at around 6.30pm on Tuesday. They challenged and detained the man, who was then arrested by armed Metropolitan Police officers on patrol nearby.

Vladyslav Dryhval, 46, of Lea Bridge Road, Leyton, east London, was charged in the early hours of Thursday with two counts of possession of an offensive weapon and a further count of possession of a bladed article.

He was remanded in custody and was to appear at Westminster Magistrates’ Court later on Thursday.

Photos posted on Twitter by witnesses at the time appeared to show several officers surrounding the man near the Institute of Contemporary Arts building.

The Met previously said there were no reports of any injuries and that the incident was not being treated as terror-related.