Suicidal knifeman who ran at armed Horse Guards in hope they would kill him ... trends now
A suicidal knifeman who ran at armed officers during the Horse Guards Parade last year hurled abuse at a court and yelled 'I want to go back to Sri Lanka' on Wednesday.
Prashanth Kandhaiah, 30, came within seconds of being shot dead at the ceremonial parade ground in St James Park on Easter Monday, April 18.
Kandhaiah had searched 'rat poison can kill people' the day before his attack, as well as 'I hate Britain' and 'police'.
He had also looked up the London Bridge terror attacks from 2019.
But Kandhaiah claimed he was trying to get the officers to kill him and was not trying to harm anyone. He told the jury during the trial: 'I went there to get shot'.
On the day of the incident he had sent one of his children a message saying: 'Goodbye, love you. Daddy.'
A police forensic official walks outside the Horse Guards building after Kandhaiah ran at the two police officers in April last year
Kandhaiah was cleared by the jury of attempting to cause grievous bodily harm after a two day trial at Southwark Crown Court.
But during the prosecution's statement, he suddenly yelled: 'F*** off! You can f*** off Britain. I want to go back to Sri Lanka!'
He was then removed from the courtroom.
He admitted the offence of having a bladed article, namely a black-handled kitchen knife.
Jurors had heard how on April 18 Kandhaiah ran at the Ministry of Defence officers, PCs Ravinder Digpaul and Ryan Pariso, with the knife.
CCTV footage showed him waiting for several minutes on Whitehall Road before suddenly running through the gates to the courtyard.
Claire
