Man arrested with sword outside Buckingham Palace denies engaging in terrorism

A 26-year-old man of Bangladeshi-origin, who was arrested with a sword near Buckingham Palace and charged with a terror offence, has denied engaging in the acts of terrorism.

Mohiussunnath Chowdhury, from Luton area of England, appeared at the Old Bailey court in London via a video link from Belmarsh Prison, a high-security jail in south-east London.

He denied engaging in the preparation to commit an act or acts of terrorism on August 25, 2017 and was remanded in custody to stand trial in June.

Chowdhury, who worked as a self-employed Uber driver, was stopped by Scotland Yard officers when he stopped his vehicle near a police car on Constitution Hill near Queen Elizabeth's London residence before he was arrested.

"Mohiussunnath Chowdhury was charged with an offence contrary to Section 5(1) of the Terrorism Act 2006 namely, on or before August 25 2017 engaging in conduct in preparation for giving effect to his intention to commit an act or acts of terrorism," Metropolitan Police said in a statement.

Chowdhury was caught with a four-foot sword shouting "Allahhu Akbar" near the palace and three police officers were injured in the course of the attack.

Scotland Yard's Counter Terrorism Command had earlier revealed details of the attack, which took place on August 25 when a man stopped his car in a restricted area near a police vehicle.

Officers spotted a large bladed weapon in his vehicle and went to arrest him.

During the course of detaining the man, three male police officers suffered minor injuries to their arm.

Two of the injured officers were taken to hospital for treatment and were later discharged.

Chowdhury was also taken to a London hospital for treatment of minor injuries before being questioned by police.

"We believe the man was acting alone and we are not looking for other suspects at this stage. While we cannot speculate on what the man was intending to do – this will be determined during the course of the investigation – it is only right that we investigate this as a terrorist incident at this time," Commander Dean Haydon, the head of the Met's Counter Terrorism Command, had said.

A 30-year-old man was detained on suspicion of terrorism offences a few days after the incident in west London in connection with the palace attack.

He was later released without charge.

Queen Elizabeth and other members of the royal family were not in Buckingham Palace at the time.