Michael Fagan

Michael Fagan (born August 8, 1948 in London ) is a British citizen who sneaked into Buckingham Palace in central London. In the early morning of July 9, 1982, he entered Queen Elizabeth II's bedroom .

biography

Early years of life

Michael Fagan was born in the Clerkenwell neighborhood of London. He was the son of Ivy Fagan, who was a steel erector and a "lockpicking master". He also had two young sisters named Margaret and Elizabeth. He attended Compton Street School in Clerkenwell (now St. Peter & St. Paul RC Primary School ) in 1955 . At the age of 18, he left home in 1966 because of his father, who according to Fagan was violent, and worked as a painter and decorator. He later had four children with his wife Christine, whom he married in 1972.

incident

Michael Fagan, unemployed with four children, broke into Buckingham Palace on July 9, 1982 with the second attempt. On his first attempt, he failed to climb a rain gutter. The second time he tried - this time successfully - to enter Buckingham Palace via the same gutter. Until a favorable moment he waited a few minutes on the roof. In the building, he ran into a maid who believed Fagan was an employee and was outside of her responsibility for security matters. Although an alarm was triggered inside the building, a guard assumed a false alarm and switched off the alarm. Other alarm systems were installed, but not activated or defective. In the further course, Fagan drank a bottle of wine and broke an ashtray made of crystal glass , causing serious cuts.

The bodyguard Paul Whybrew, who was supposed to keep watch outside the bedroom door, left his post for a few minutes to take the Queen's dogs out. The empty chair there indicated the queen's bedroom to Fagan and he could enter it unhindered.

The queen woke when he started talking to her on the edge of her bed, still bleeding heavily, holding the remains of the ashtray. He was able to speak to the queen undisturbed for about ten minutes, during which time she tried twice to call the police using an alarm button on the underside of the bed. But this alarm was not connected either. She recognized the danger, spoke reassuringly to Fagan, offered him cigars and pretended to fetch them from an adjoining room. Another domestic worker arrived who recognized the situation and called the police, who then came immediately.

After this incident, some security guards were changed and the security measures at Buckingham Palace were massively increased. Fagan was charged but not convicted. He was only charged with stealing the wine bottle, but the process was discontinued. A break-in or trespassing could not be proven, among other things because the massive defects of the alarm precautions and disciplinary mistakes of the security personnel favored the incident. Fagan was admitted to a psychiatric hospital for assessment for several months and then discharged without any findings.

Later years of life

Two years after breaking into Buckingham Palace, Fagan attacked a police officer at a pastry shop in Fishguard , Wales . For this he received a three-year prison sentence. In 1987, he was found guilty of indecent exposure after being discovered running around on wasteland in Chingford , London, wearing no pants. He was also jailed for four years in 1997 when he, his wife, and his then 20-year-old son were accused of heroin trafficking.

literature

• Davidson, Spencer. God Save the Queen, Fast , Time (Jul.26 1982), 33
• Wilson, Colin (2004). The World's Greatest True Crime
• Rogal, Kim and Ronald Henkoff. Intruder in the Palace , Newsweek (July 26, 1982), pp. 38-39
• Michael Fagan: Her nightie was one of those Liberty prints, down to her knees Independent on Sunday February 19, 2012
• Serious Organized Crime and Police Act 2005 (Designated Sites under Section 128) Order 2007

Individual evidence

1. ↑ TEXT OF SCOTLAND YARD'S REPORT ON JULY 9 INTRUSION INTO BUCKINGHAM PALACE . ( nytimes.com [accessed April 20, 2018]).
2. ↑ ^{a b} Michael Fagan: 'Her nightie was one of those Liberty prints, down to . In: The Independent . February 19, 2012 ( independent.co.uk [accessed April 20, 2018]).