Judge raps CPS on Queen axeman case

Proceedings against Daniel Bleazard were twice almost dropped by chief prosecutors, Bradford Crown Court heard.

Bleazard, 34, of Huddersfield, was jailed for six years after he was arrested with a three-foot-long felling axe in a bag close to Huddersfield railway station last May.

Judge Jonathan Durham Hall QC said he believed Bleazard wanted to provoke a reaction from armed police. His actions could have endangered children if officers had had to open fire to protect the Queen.

He said Bleazard was an angry and aggressive man who had a deep idiosyncratic hatred of authority.

Judge Durham Hall was told that people at the highest level of the Crown Prosecution Service had almost dropped the case on two occasions but a police inspector had objected.

At one point CPS officials had brought up the possibility of simply binding him over, he was told.

The judge said: "I find it absolutely bewildering that there was any thought whatsoever given to discontinuing any part of this case."

The judge said he had rarely seen a stronger case and the jury had convicted in a matter of minutes.

He said the offence was to some degree directed at Her Majesty.

Bleazard, who was found guilty of having an article with a blade, had claimed the axe was to chop wood at his home and he only wanted to photograph the Queen.

The judge said that in his warped and antisocial mind he had intended to get as close to the Queen as possible.

After the case, Peter Mann, Area Crown Prosecutor for CPS West Yorkshire, said the reviewing lawyer had identified evidential defects, at an early stage of the case, which would have prevented it from proceeding.

He said: "We regarded this matter very seriously and considered the charges very carefully with the police. The police were advised that without further evidence the case could not proceed."

Mr Mann said a decision was made to proceed to trial after the receipt of further evidence and a case review.