Tourist breaks into Buckingham Palace and does video saying 'the King is asleep'

06 November 2023 , 22:55

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Buckingham Palace in central London (Image: PA)

A drunken American tourist who climbed into the Royal Mews at Buckingham Palace was spared jail today after spending seven weeks in custody.

Awad Mustafa, 25, was on a 10-day trip to the UK when he was arrested after breaking into the King's official residence in the early hours of September 16. Awad filmed himself on his phone saying "The King is asleep" before he was found hiding in the paddocks, Westminster Magistrates' Court heard.

Mustafa was fined £1,000 and will have to pay a victim surcharge of £400 and costs of £85, court staff at Westminster Magistrate’s Court said on Monday. Antonia Gray, defending, said: "This is a 25-year-old man who behaved in an immature, reckless and foolish way. I hope you accept that this was drunken behaviour. He accepts that he caused a huge amount of concern. It was a great nuisance, no more than that."

Ms Gray said Mustafa, who works as a computer engineer for Apple, has already spent seven weeks in custody. Earlier prosecutor Rhianne Neil said: "On 16 September, just before 1.30am, a member of the public called the police stating they had seen a man climbing the wall on Grosvenor Road bordering The Royal Mews. The suspect was then seen inside the grounds and filming with a mobile phone.

Awad Mustafa, 25, was on a 10-day trip to the UK when he was arrested

"Officers attended the scene at around 2:30am and found the defendant hiding in the corner of the paddock with a horse." Awad was taken into custody and gave a prepared statement stating he had climbed the wall to take photos and wanted to get a better angle. While scaling the wall he claimed he fell and injured himself and couldn't get back over it.

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Awad had arrived in the UK for a 10-day trip on 7 September and had been planning to fly to Spain the following day. Upon arrest, he was found with two passports - from Ecuador and Spain - an iPhone, cash, and a battery pack to charge his phone.

Sentencing Mustafa, District Judge Daniel Sternberg said: "In the early hours of that day you climbed over a wall on Buckingham Palace Road. You were seen on CCTV filming using your mobile phone. Police officers arrived and found you hiding in one of the stables."

His phone and other property were seized and analyzed, which showed he had been filming. You can be heard saying 'The King is asleep' [in one of the videos]. You are a relatively young man of previous good character. By pleading guilty you have lost that good character. It seems that there was some planning involved on your part. The harm comes from breaching the confines of the Royal Palace. You made a very stupid, drunken mistake, and I am dealing with you on that basis.

"You need to understand that if there is any repetition of this behaviour on your part it is extremely unlikely that you will be dealt with in such a lenient way again. It is highly likely that you would face an immediate custodial sentence."

Rachel Hagan