Security breach at Britain's Prince William's Military Academy

Jun 26, 2006, 18:33 GMT

A British journalist managed to enter Prince William's Army accommodation block - with a fake bomb.

The undercover reporter from The People newspaper says he was able to enter the world-renowned Sandhurst Military Academy - where William is enrolled on officer training - after cursory checks and a quick search of his car boot.

The inside of the car was not checked.

Once inside, the journalist sat on the grass outside and openly assembled a fake explosive, which was based on a design used by Al-Qaeda - a mobile telephone acting as a timer wired to a piece of Semtex, which he substituted with plasticine.

He then put the pretend bomb into his shoulder bag and walked around the academy, which was holding an open day.

Although most of Sandhurst's buildings were closed, two ground floor windows were allegedly unlocked.

However, the reporter got into the building because a cadet opened a door for him.

He was then able to stroll into William's accommodation block and sat in the common room near the young royal's personal quarters.

The reporter claims he walked around the academy for a total of four hours, without being challenged.

The People linked up with former counter-terrorism intelligence officer Charles Shoebridge to infiltrate Sandhurst, which William's younger brother, Prince Harry, graduated from earlier this year.

He said: 'Sandhurst's worldwide reputation makes it an ideal terrorist target - especially with Prince William there. Yet you would not think this from the security we saw.

'If they had wanted to, then terrorists could have caused havoc.'

A Ministry of Defence spokesman said: 'We do not discuss security matters. We are, however, satisfied that a real bomb would have been quickly identified and appropriate steps taken.'

Copyright 2006 BANG Media International