Woman charged over alleged Buckingham Palace bomb hoax ‘unfit to stand trial’

A woman charged over an alleged hoax bomb threat at Buckingham Palace is unfit to stand trial, a judge has ruled.

Diane Durham, from Pudsey, West Yorkshire, is accused of posting a message on X, formerly Twitter, which suggested an explosive was being carried to the royal residence on a train.

On Wednesday a judge at Leeds Crown Court said the 62-year-old is not fit to stand trial or enter a plea to the offence of knowingly providing false information to the Metropolitan Police on May 17 last year.

Instead, a trial of the facts, to be heard at the same court, has been scheduled for October 30.

The judge’s ruling followed reports from two psychiatrists.

Judge Simon Phillips said: “I have rigorously examined the evidence of the psychiatrists … I consider that in these circumstances the defendant is unfit to plead and to stand trial.

“It follows, therefore, that a trial is necessary with a jury, not to determine guilt or innocence but to determine whether the defendant has done the act the (prosecution) allege.”

A trial of the facts is where the prosecution sets out the case in front of a jury but the defendant does not have to play a part in proceedings or be present in court.

The jury then decides if the defendant committed the alleged offence, though their conclusion cannot result in a criminal conviction.

Ms Durham is alleged to have sent the false information from her home address, where she was arrested after the Metropolitan force informed West Yorkshire Police.