A man arrested after being Tasered outside Buckingham Palace as he held a knife to his neck has been charged with possessing a bladed weapon in public and affray, Scotland Yard said today.
Talhat Rehman, 54, of Lindsay Drive, Harrow, was seen ranting and pressing a second six-inch knife to his chest while holding a set of beads.
He will appear in custody at Westminster Magistrates Court today.
Scotland Yard has begun an investigation into claims its officers used the identities of dead children and issued fake passports in their names to go undercover.
A Guardian report alleges that the Metropolitan police authorised the creation of the aliases for covert officers infiltrating protest groups, without consulting or informing the children's parents.
The newspaper claims generations of officers went through national birth and death records, over three decades, in search of suitable matches to generate official documents like driving licences and national insurance numbers.
Scotland Yard tonight said the practice was not "currently" authorised and confirmed it was probing "past arrangements for undercover identities used by SDS (Special Demonstration Squad) officers".
Eyewitness Grant Shepherd has filmed the moment a man wielding two knives was Tasered outside Buckingham Palace.
The man is seen falling to the ground before being detained, while officers on horseback keep the crowds of tourists back.
Pictures from Grant Shepherd
Kevin Burrows witnessed a man being Tasered by police outside Buckingham Palace earlier today. He described the incident to ITV News' Reporter Damon Green:
A spokesman for the Metropolitan Police said:
It was approximately 11.50. A man was seen outside the centre gate in possession of two knives.
He was not making threats to members of the public but he was challenged by police.
He acted aggressively and a Taser was discharged.
He is thought to be in his fifties. He was arrested on suspicion of affray and has been taken to a central London police station.
An eyewitness to the arrest at Buckingham Palace told me that police walked behind the suspect and Tasered him in the back.
A scene was cordoned off with police tape 30 metres from the palace gates this morning and an ambulance was parked to the side of the building.
Inside the cordoned-off area lay two knives with six-inch blades and a pair of Nike high top trainers.
Taser wire also lay on the floor with four plastic tubes of two different sizes, three large ones and a small one.
A hat and a black carrier bag containing paper material with a handkerchief beside it also lay on the ground.
The man's face has been blurred for legal reasons.
The Queen and Prince Philip were at Sandringham at the time of the incident.
A Buckingham Palace spokeswoman said they would not comment as it was a police matter.
