Paranoid Pudsey woman avoids jail over Buckingham Palace bomb message
A woman who suggested a bomb was ‘heading to Buckingham Palace’ has been spared custody because of her mental state.
Diane Durham, who posted the message on X, formerly Twitter, was found to be too unwell to stand trial.
The 63-year-old was given a supervision order at Leeds Crown Court this morning.
Durham, of Church Lane, Pudsey, had been found responsible for writing the message after a trial of fact was held in her absence.
Trials of fact mean a defendant does not take part, but a jury will decide if they committed the act without determining guilt or innocence.
A jury found that she had communicated false information with intent.
Durham sent out the message on X, formerly Twitter, on May 17 last year, suggesting a “thing liable to explode” was travelling to Buckingham Palace on a train.
During previous hearings, the court was told that Durham suffered paranoid delusions about being watched by the authorities.
She previously pleaded not guilty to the charge of communicating false information to the Metropolitan Police.
Durham underwent extensive assessments by two psychiatrists who both concluded that she was unfit to stand trial.
One suggested she suffers with a psychotic disorder and has “fixed beliefs that she is being pursued by intelligence agencies”.
The court previously heard that she has been placed on anti-psychotic medication and was showing improvement.
Judge Simon Phillips KC gave her the two-year supervision order, with a focus on mental-health treatment.