A suicidal knifeman who ran at armed officers during the Horse Guards Parade in UK last year hurled abuse at a court and yelled ‘I want to go back to Sri Lanka’ on Wednesday.
Prashanth Kandhaiah, 30, came within seconds of being shot dead at the ceremonial parade ground in St James Park on Easter Monday, April 18, the Daily Mail reported.
Kandhaiah had searched ‘rat poison can kill people’ the day before his attack, as well as ‘I hate Britain’ and ‘police’.
He had also looked up the London Bridge terror attacks from 2019.
But Kandhaiah claimed he was trying to get the officers to kill him and was not trying to harm anyone. He told the jury during the trial: ‘I went there to get shot’.
On the day of the incident he had sent one of his children a message saying: ‘Goodbye, love you. Daddy.’
Kandhaiah was cleared by the jury of attempting to cause grievous bodily harm after a two day trial at Southwark Crown Court.
But during the prosecution’s statement, he suddenly yelled: ‘F*** off! You can f*** off Britain. I want to go back to Sri Lanka!’
He was then removed from the courtroom.
He admitted the offence of having a bladed article, namely a black-handled kitchen knife.
Jurors had heard how on April 18 Kandhaiah ran at the Ministry of Defence officers, PCs Ravinder Digpaul and Ryan Pariso, with the knife.
CCTV footage showed him waiting for several minutes on Whitehall Road before suddenly running through the gates to the courtyard.
Claire Langevad, prosecuting, described how Kandhaiah made ‘attempts to stab PC Digpaul’, who had to kick the defendant repeatedly to stop him stabbing him.
Ms Langevad added: ‘He [PC Digpaul} was able to draw out his side arm but it appeared not to deter him at all.
‘PC Pasiro was able to take out a taser which subdued him.’
It was at this point that Kandhaiah launched his tirade at the court. He was swiftly removed.
Ms Langevad continued: ‘A mobile phone was seized at the scene. There were messages from the defendant saying goodbye.’
Reading from PC Digpaul’s impact statement she said the officer had been left fearful by the attack, and scared about ‘how close it came to a different outcome.’
She read: ‘He describes struggling to sleep and switching off.
‘His mother worries about him doing his job more than she did before the incident.
‘A small child was running through a courtyard, and he said that the sound of the child running brought him back to the incident.’
Richard Craven, defending Kandhaiah, told the court: ‘He believes that he is made of metal. He is unlikely to never not hold that view.
‘He has opened his shirt to me and shown me his chest, insisting that he is half made of metal.
‘He believes that he is controlled by a wood pigeon.
‘His view is that there is nothing anyone can do to help him. He does seem to have got rather worse while in prison.’
Mr Craven told the court that he found lockdown particularly difficult because all his friends and family are in Sri Lanka.
‘He is now rather keen to leave this country.
‘He is a man of previous good character. He has always worked. He has always held down a job. He has even held positions of responsibility.’
Kandhaiah, of Thamesmead, southeast London, denied and was cleared of attempting to cause grievous bodily harm but admitted having a bladed article.
He was not present at court when he was sentenced and he refused to attend via video link from Wandsworth Prison.
Judge Adam Hiddleston said: ‘PC Digpaul, in those horrifying seconds, thought he might die a horrifying death, or would be faced with no other option but to kill his attacker.
‘I can’t think of how terrifying that must have been for him.
‘It affected his sleep and his ability to switch off.
‘It had a knock on effect as far as his loved ones were concerned. Sadly their fears as far as his safety was concerned were confirmed.
‘The experience for the officers and for members of the public must have been utterly terrifying.
‘You have claimed to be half man half machine. You believe that you are controlled by a wood pigeon.’
Judge Hiddelston acknowledged that the jury cleared him of attempting to cause grievous bodily harm but said: ‘Wielding a knife in the way that you did is extremely dangerous and may have had consequences you claim not to have intended.’
‘There are times when you don’t see the point in being alive, and that is when you try to end your life.’
He referred to Kandhaiah’s behaviour in the dock yesterday when he yelled: ‘f*** off Britain. I want to go back to Sri Lanka’.
Judge Hiddleston said: ‘Your behaviour yesterday was grossly offensive to both myself and counsel. Had the chair not been screwed to the floor you would have picked it up and used it as a weapon.’
He was examined by two doctors on the request of the judge, who concluded that he suffers from a personality disorder.’
‘It does not warrant hospital treatment. The only sentence I can pass is a custodial sentence.’
Kandhaiah was jailed for 30 months. (DailyMail)