Knife Wielding Man in the UK Tasered
Shocking footage shows Talhat Rehman, 54, a former Halal meat butcher shop owner (Kassam Halal Meat in Kingsbury Road), holding huge knife to his throat before being tasered by police as he ran towards them wielding two blades during Changing of the Guard at Buckingham Palace.
Update 5/2/2013: Talhat Rehman appears to have been desperate for money after being ‘cheated’ out of £160,000 in savings by a lawyer and losing the family Business. He had appeared in front of Buckingham Palace to give a ‘letter to the Queen’ and threatened to kill himself if he was denied.
Update 5/2/2013: Talhat Rehman appears to have been desperate for money after being ‘cheated’ out of £160,000 in savings by a lawyer and losing the family Business. He had appeared in front of Buckingham Palace to give a ‘letter to the Queen’ and threatened to kill himself if he was denied.
Talhat Rehman, 54, broke from a crowd of tourists in the middle of the Changing of the Guard ceremony yesterday morning, holding one blade to his chest and another to his throat.
As an officer tried to intervene, he lunged at him waving both knives and was shot with the stun gun before being arrested and taken away in a police van.
Mr Rehman, of Harrow, North West London, was later charged with two counts of possessing a bladed weapon in public and one of affray. He will appear at Westminster Magistrates’ Court later today.
"He was not making threats to members of the public but he was challenged by police. He acted aggressively and a Taser was discharged,” a Scotland Yard spokesman said.
Officers at the scene suggested that Mr Rehman was known to them and was mentally ill. He had previously worked at the Maharaja Halal butcher a mile from his home address, it was reported.
A police cordon was thrown around the scene just 30 metres from the palace gates.
The two knives Mr Rehman had been carrying, an Afghan-style hat, a set of prayer beads and his high-top trainers remained within the cordon alongside Taser barb, the wire released as the electrical current is discharged from the gun.
The Band of the Grenadier Guards played on through the melee as baffled tourists watched the incident unfold shortly before 12pm.
Josh Greenberg, a sixth-form student at St Paul's School in London, said, “I was walking past the palace, heard some commotion in the area next to the Victoria Memorial [and] looked to my right, the guy ran out into the middle of the square with a knife at his neck.
“Within a few seconds he was surrounded by police horses and officers on foot. Less than two minutes later a car came with officers with Tasers.
"One stood in front of him and the other went around from behind and discharged the Taser then the police got him on the floor, kicked the knives away and put him in the back of a van.
“He was shouting but it was quite unintelligible. Police were clearly telling him to drop the knife and instructing public to get back."
A video posted online showed Mr Rehman standing alone near the Victoria Memorial.
A mounted policewoman yelled at the crowds to move back as he held one of the blades to his throat. As the officer pointed the Taser in his direction he lurched at him, waving the knives in the air.
As he fell to the ground he was quickly surrounded by officers who checked him over before carrying him away.
Eyewitness Kevin Burrows, 33, a kitchen porter from Kingston, Surrey, said, “The crowd had been pushed back behind a barrier but he came at the police. He was threatening them with knives.
“The police saw him and acted very quickly. They surrounded him within seconds. I saw the shot fired. It took a couple of seconds for him to hit the ground.
“I've never seen anything like it before. I didn't expect that, I didn't expect it whatsoever.”
The Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh were at Sandringham at the time of the incident.
In the last three years, police have used Tasers on at least 78 people to stop them killing or hurting themselves, according to figures obtained under Freedom of Information laws.
Talhat Rehman holding a knife to his neck before being tasered outside Buckingham Palace
Moments after the man holding a knife to his neck was tasered outside Buckingham Palace
A man holding a knife to his neck has been tasered outside Buckingham Palace during the Changing of the Guard ceremony
A hat and 2 Knives lie on the road where a man was tasered outside Buckingham Palace in London
A pair of trainers at the scene of the tasering outside Buckingham Palace
A scenes of crime officer documents evidence at the scene between the Queen Victoria Memorial and Buckingham Palace
As an officer tried to intervene, he lunged at him waving both knives and was shot with the stun gun before being arrested and taken away in a police van.
Mr Rehman, of Harrow, North West London, was later charged with two counts of possessing a bladed weapon in public and one of affray. He will appear at Westminster Magistrates’ Court later today.
"He was not making threats to members of the public but he was challenged by police. He acted aggressively and a Taser was discharged,” a Scotland Yard spokesman said.
Officers at the scene suggested that Mr Rehman was known to them and was mentally ill. He had previously worked at the Maharaja Halal butcher a mile from his home address, it was reported.
A police cordon was thrown around the scene just 30 metres from the palace gates.
The two knives Mr Rehman had been carrying, an Afghan-style hat, a set of prayer beads and his high-top trainers remained within the cordon alongside Taser barb, the wire released as the electrical current is discharged from the gun.
The Band of the Grenadier Guards played on through the melee as baffled tourists watched the incident unfold shortly before 12pm.
Josh Greenberg, a sixth-form student at St Paul's School in London, said, “I was walking past the palace, heard some commotion in the area next to the Victoria Memorial [and] looked to my right, the guy ran out into the middle of the square with a knife at his neck.
“Within a few seconds he was surrounded by police horses and officers on foot. Less than two minutes later a car came with officers with Tasers.
"One stood in front of him and the other went around from behind and discharged the Taser then the police got him on the floor, kicked the knives away and put him in the back of a van.
“He was shouting but it was quite unintelligible. Police were clearly telling him to drop the knife and instructing public to get back."
A video posted online showed Mr Rehman standing alone near the Victoria Memorial.
A mounted policewoman yelled at the crowds to move back as he held one of the blades to his throat. As the officer pointed the Taser in his direction he lurched at him, waving the knives in the air.
As he fell to the ground he was quickly surrounded by officers who checked him over before carrying him away.
Eyewitness Kevin Burrows, 33, a kitchen porter from Kingston, Surrey, said, “The crowd had been pushed back behind a barrier but he came at the police. He was threatening them with knives.
“The police saw him and acted very quickly. They surrounded him within seconds. I saw the shot fired. It took a couple of seconds for him to hit the ground.
“I've never seen anything like it before. I didn't expect that, I didn't expect it whatsoever.”
The Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh were at Sandringham at the time of the incident.
In the last three years, police have used Tasers on at least 78 people to stop them killing or hurting themselves, according to figures obtained under Freedom of Information laws.
Talhat Rehman holding a knife to his neck before being tasered outside Buckingham Palace
Moments after the man holding a knife to his neck was tasered outside Buckingham Palace
A man holding a knife to his neck has been tasered outside Buckingham Palace during the Changing of the Guard ceremony
A hat and 2 Knives lie on the road where a man was tasered outside Buckingham Palace in London
A pair of trainers at the scene of the tasering outside Buckingham Palace
A scenes of crime officer documents evidence at the scene between the Queen Victoria Memorial and Buckingham Palace
