Two injured in machete attack on MI5

Lee Glendinning
Saturday September 4, 2004
The Guardian

Detectives were last night questioning a man who stormed the headquarters of MI5 armed with a machete.

Two security guards were injured when the man charged Thames House in London, where the security service and the Northern Ireland Office are based.

Police from an armed response unit shot the intruder twice with a stun gun before he slumped to the ground in the street.

Police believe the man first went into the Northern Ireland Office before struggling with security guards. He is then thought to have run outside and round the corner to the entrance to the lobby of MI5.

A Scotland Yard spokesman said: "At 1.15pm we were called to Thames House, Millbank, to reports of an intruder armed with a knife.

"We discovered a man outside the building armed with a machete and a large knife. He was challenged by officers and refused to cooperate.

"A Taser [stun gun] was discharged by police and the man was arrested and taken by an ambulance to hospital. At this early stage we believe the man entered the building and attacked two security guards."

Police later said one of the security guards suffered cuts to the hand and the other cuts to his arm.

The man was discharged from hospital and taken to a police station for questioning.

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