Daniel Day: Man accused of climbing Big Ben’s Elizabeth Tower appears in court | UK News

A man has appeared in court accused of climbing up the tower of Big Ben.

Daniel Day, 29, of Westcliff-on-Sea, Essex, appeared at Westminster Magistrates’ Court on Monday charged with intentionally or recklessly causing a public nuisance and trespassing on a protected site.

Day spoke to confirm his identity and was remanded into custody until later this month.

No pleas were entered.

The Metropolitan Police were called to reports of a man climbing up Elizabeth Tower at 7.24am on Saturday.

The man was carrying a Palestinian flag and remained barefoot on a ledge for more than 16 hours before being lifted to the ground in a cherry picker just after midnight.

In a video posted on Instagram on Saturday evening, the man told negotiators from the ledge he was sitting on that he would come down “on his own terms”.

In the footage, negotiators on an aerial ladder platform appear to raise concerns about an injury to his foot, saying there is “quite a lot of blood” and that his clothes were not warm enough as temperatures dropped after sunset.

But he insisted he was safe, saying: “I will come down on my own terms, I have said this. But right now I am saying I am safe.

“If you come towards me you are putting me in danger and I will climb higher.”

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Westminster Bridge was forced to close to traffic during the morning, as tourists in central London stood around watching the spectacle.

Police said specialist officers worked with the fire brigade “to bring this incident to a close as quickly as possible whilst minimising risk to life”.

Commons speaker Sir Lindsay Hoyle on Monday ordered a security review to ensure “lessons are learnt” following the incident, as he thanked those for helping to resolve it safely.