Woman unfit for trial over alleged bomb hoax

A woman charged with making an alleged bomb hoax threat targeting Buckingham Palace is unfit to stand trial, a judge has ruled.

Diane Durham, from Pudsey, West Yorkshire, was accused of knowingly providing false information to the Metropolitan Police about a bomb being carried on a train to the palace on 17 May.

On Wednesday at Leeds Crown Court, Judge Simon Phillips said the 62-year-old was not fit to stand trial or enter a plea to the offence.

Instead, a trial of the facts would be heard at the same court on 30 October, the judge ruled.

A trial of the facts is where the prosecution sets out the case in front of a jury, but the defendant does not have to play a part in proceedings or be present in court.

The jury then decides if the defendant committed the alleged offence, but their conclusion cannot result in a criminal conviction.

Judge Phillips said he had made his decision after having "rigorously examined the evidence of the psychiatrists".

"I consider that in these circumstances the defendant is unfit to plead and to stand trial," he said.

"It follows, therefore, that a trial is necessary with a jury, not to determine guilt or innocence but to determine whether the defendant has done the act the [prosecution] allege."

Ms Durham was alleged to have sent false information from her home address, where she was arrested after the Metropolitan force informed West Yorkshire Police.

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