Machete man in rampage at MI5 HQ

A schizophrenic who carried a machete and an eight-inch knife into MI5 headquarters before attacking security guards is to be held indefinitely in hospital.

Unemployed William Cornford, 42,who has a 20-year history of mental illness, ran into a junior minister's office as he rampaged through Thames House, Millbank.

The incident last year led to a major security review at the building, which houses both the Security Service and the Northern Ireland Office.

Middlesex Guildhall Crown Court heard Cornford attacked two guards, one of whom needed 10 stitches, before racing to the upper floors.

Staff barricaded their offices as he stalked the corridors with his four-foot machete demanding to see the head of MI5. But he left after being told MI5 was next door, and police felled him with a Taser gun.

Judge Henry Blacksell ordered Cornford, of no fixed abode, to unlimited restriction under the Mental Health Act. Cornford, who apologised to the court, had pleaded guilty to affray, possessing an offensive weapon and unlawful wounding.