'Delusional' Pudsey woman who 'sent Buckingham Palace bomb Tweet' will not stand trial
A woman who has paranoid delusions about being watched by intelligence agencies will not stand trial over charges related to a Buckingham Palace bomb hoax.
Diane Durham is accused of sending the message on X, formerly Twitter, on May 17 last year, suggesting a “thing liable to explode” was travelling to the 300-year-old royal residence on a train.
She previously pleaded not guilty to the charge of communicating false information to the Metropolitan Police.
The 62-year-old has since undergone extensive assessment by two psychiatrists who both concluded that she remains unfit to stand trial.
One suggested she suffers with a psychotic disorder and has “fixed beliefs that she is being pursued by intelligence agencies”.
She appeared at Leeds Crown Court today where Judge Simon Phillips KC accepted the doctors’ findings, and set a date of October 30 for a trial of facts, which is expected to last for a day.
A jury will listen to the case and decide whether Durham had committed the act, without determining guilt or innocence . Durham will not take part in the trial or even required to attend due to her condition.
Depending on the outcome, the court will decide what action will be taken, should the jury find that she committed the act.
Durham, of Church Lane, Pudsey, remains on bail.
The court heard that she has been placed on anti-psychotic medication in the last two months and was being treated at St Mary’s Hospital in Leeds. It was noted that she had “made some improvement in her insight”.