A drunken American tourist knocked himself unconscious while scaling the walls of the Royal Mews at Buckingham Palace and trying to take a photo, a court has been told.
Awad Mustafa, 25, fell into the grounds and was unable to climb back out. He was later found by officers hiding in a stable at 2.30am with an iPhone, two passports, cash and a battery pack.
Mustafa, from New Jersey, was on a ten-day trip to Britain when he was arrested in the early hours of September 16 and had been due to fly to Spain the day after the incident. He was charged with trespassing on a protected site and attempted theft after officers discovered that a car inside the Mews had been broken into.
Mustafa, an IT consultant who works for Apple and Google, said that he had been trying to take photos of Buckingham Palace from across the road when he fell into the Mews. He denies breaking into the car and indicated that he would plead not guilty at a hearing scheduled for October 16. He also claims to have lost his US passport.
Nicola White, for the defence, told Westminster magistrates’ court that Mustafa had been suffering from “slight confusion” after his fall and is awaiting a CT scan for broken bones in his hip and shoulder.
She added: “He definitely seems slightly disoriented. Respectfully to the court, there is something going on that needs to be investigated medically.”
The Royal Mews houses royal carriages including the 260-year-old Gold State Coach used at the coronations of Elizabeth II and King Charles. It is open to the public for much of the year during normal working hours, but is also a working part of the palace, used by the King’s staff.
Scotland Yard said that at no point did Mustafa enter Buckingham Palace or its gardens.
