Man with swords 'wanted to speak with' Johnson

A man who allegedly turned up outside Parliament wearing armour and carrying samurai swords wanted to "speak with Boris Johnson", a court has heard.

Lewis Allington, 34, from March, Cambridgeshire, was arrested after the incident outside Parliament on Tuesday afternoon, which led to the Carriage Gates entrance being temporarily closed.

He appeared at Westminster Magistrates' Court on Thursday charged with two counts of possession of bladed articles.

District Judge Briony Clarke sent the case to Southwark Crown Court for a plea and trial preparation hearing on 12 December.

Malachy Pakenham, prosecuting, told the court the defendant travelled to London from Cambridgeshire, put on body armour, and attended Parliament "with two samurai swords, asking to see Boris Johnson".

Defence lawyer Norman Cho said Mr Allington had "no intention of harming someone with weapons".

District Judge Clarke told Mr Allington, who was dressed in a red sweatshirt and green trousers, he would be granted bail on condition that he remained at a Cambridgeshire and Peterborough NHS Trust facility, following a recent mental health assessment in Hammersmith.

Mr Allington is not to enter London and the area within the M25, she added.

Before leaving the dock, Mr Allington enquired about the swords and armour, to which the judge replied: "Nothing is being destroyed at the moment."

Additional reporting by PA Media.

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