Royal Watch News

Buckingham Palace knifeman wanted to appeal to the queen

Feb 6, 2013, 12:02 GMT

Queen Elizabeth

The man tasered outside Buckingham Palace was hoping to appeal to Queen Elizabeth for help.

Businessman Talhat Rehman was £170,000 in debt when he emerged in front of a crowd of tourists, apparently holding knives to his throat and stomach on Sunday (03.02.13).

He had lost money on an investment fraud and had to remortgage his house, sell his wife's gold jewellery and feared he could lose his family shop as he struggled to keep up with his debt.

Talhat had been declared bankrupt in September, after seeking help from police to help him prosecute those responsible for defrauding him. He was told there was no enough evidence to mount a criminal prosecution.

On Sunday morning he reportedly rang a colleague at the butcher's shop he runs in North London, and said: 'Either today I will be heard or I am finishing my life'.

Talhat's son said he was hoping to have an audience with the Queen, as a last resort.

Kassum Raja, 30, told the Daily Telegraph newspaper: 'He's in such debt. He invested £168,000 in a property a few years back. He remortgaged his house. The people he invested with ran off with the money.

'Because of that he's been going to MPs, to the police to get help. But they didn't listen. In the end he said, 'I'm going direct to the queen. She's our queen so I can talk to her.' '

After tasering Talhat, he was arrested on charges of affray and two counts of possessing a bladed weapon in public.

The queen and the Duke of Edinburgh were both away from London at Sandringham at the time of the incident.