A trespasser who broke into the Houses of Parliament told staff he was visiting Prince Andrew and Prince Charles when he was discovered, a court heard. Devon Dorrall, 23, from Tilehurst in Reading, managed to evade round-the-clock guards and armed police to sneak into the heart of the London estate undetected at lunchtime on November 30 last year.
He was found sitting on a chair in the Mess area of the House of Lords, an incident that authorities did not disclose at the time. When challenged about his presence, he claimed he was being escorted by Prince Harry.
Dorrall was charged with trespass on a protected site. He was already on bail for throwing glass bottles at a bar in Reading town centre two days earlier. He is due to be sentenced in six months after Chief Magistrate Paul Goldspring deferred the hearing at Westminster Magistrates' Court. The judge indicated he was minded to impose a non-custodial sentence provided Dorrall engages with the Government's anti-terror programme and mental health services, and commits no further offences.
The court heard that Dorrall had previously been referred to Prevent after making a bomb hoax around ten years ago. He had also made comments about Boris Johnson and Nigel Farage, the Chief Magistrate said, though no further details were mentioned in court.
Prosecutor Malachy Pakenham said a heating engineer spotted Dorrall wearing a visitor's badge but unaccompanied. The engineer contacted police, who arrived within two minutes, but Dorrall refused to engage properly and stared in a threatening manner. Dorrall then claimed to have entered Parliament the previous day and wandered alone undetected since then, a claim disputed by the Crown. He also said he lived in the Palace of Westminster.
Medical reports suggested Dorrall was suffering a psychotic episode at the time, but it was more likely than not that this followed drug use. He had no relevant convictions. Defence counsel Yasmin Eshaghian said Dorrall probably does not understand his motivations for the incident.
Sources revealed that Dorrall gained access by climbing over the roof of the Parliamentary Education Centre at the southern end of the palace. Neither Scotland Yard nor parliamentary authorities announced the breach publicly or alerted all members and staff, raising suspicions they wanted to avoid embarrassment. This came months after a new fence was erected, branded hideous by peers, while £10 million was spent on a door that did not work.
An insider called it a complete embarrassment that someone could climb in and get so deep into the site before being stopped by a workman. A House of Lords spokesman confirmed the arrest and said security arrangements were urgently reviewed and enhanced. The Metropolitan Police confirmed the arrest, stating the intruder did not come into contact with any staff or members of the House.
This incident adds to a series of security breaches at Parliament, including a phone planted in the Commons chamber to play sex noises, a man perching on Big Ben for 16 hours, and another scaling the fence near the Carriage Gates.
