Trespasser tells judge reason he got into Kensington Palace's grounds twice
Princess Catherine and Prince William's official residence in London is Kensington Palace.
A man who got into the grounds of Kensington Palace twice in the days before Christmas has been sentenced to 32 weeks in prison. On Tuesday, January 20, Derek Egan, 39, pleaded guilty to two counts of trespass on a protected site, and when asked why he went to the palace, he told Westminster Magistrates Court, “because I am a criminal”.
Egan, of Hillingdon, also breached his bail conditions, which banned him from going back to the palace. The West London palace is the official residence in London of the Prince and Princess of Wales and their children. However, the Wales's family home is Forest Lodge in Windsor. Deputy Senior District Judge Tan Ikram handed Egan 16 weeks' imprisonment for each trespass offence and said both terms are to be served consecutively.
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At about 4am on December 22, Egan had climbed over a fence and got in to the garden at Kensington Palace, the court heard.
He was taken to a police station and bailed, but went back a day later.
During the sentencing hearing, the judge asked Egan: “Why did you go there?”
Egan replied: “Because I am a criminal.”
The judge asked: “Are you well? Are there any issues in your life?”
Egan said: “All is fine.”
The judge also pointed out that jail was a possible punishment and Egan said: “I suppose I am happy as a criminal to follow whatever judgment (of) yourself and your court today.”
The judge told Egan, who chose to represent himself at court, that “the offences are serious”.
He said: “You were found in the garden at Kensington Palace having climbed over the fence. The police bailed you, granted you bail but you went back. You did it again. You were arrested and brought before this court. You gave no explanation as to why you did it but climbed over a fence.”
The judge told Egan: “In your dealings with the police you were given instruction not to go back but you chose to ignore that instruction of the police. Therefore, the second offence is more serious.”
It is a criminal offence to trespass on a protected site designated under the Serious Organised Crime and Police Act (SOCPA) 2005.
A new exclusion zone recently came into force around Wales’s new family home in Windsor Great Park, Forest Lodge. They also have a 10-bedroom mansion, Anmer Hall, on the Sandringham Estate in Norfolk.
