London: Paedophile who drove car into Downing Street gates spared jail | UK News

A paedophile who rammed his car into the gates of Downing Street sparking a huge security alert has been spared jail.  

Seth Kneller, 43, was found to have child abuse images of victims as young as eight on his phone when the device was examined by police investigating the incident outside the Prime Minister’s official residence.  

Rishi Sunak was at No 10 during the crash on May 25, which saw Whitehall go into lockdown.

Terrified pedestrians fled as Kneller drove his Kia Creed at speed towards the outer gates, causing them to swing open and the main gates to shake with the force of the impact.  

Officers with firearms shouted ‘armed police’ and detained Kneller after his car came to a stop – amid concerns the attack could be terror-related.  

Kneller, from Crewe, Cheshire, told them he had ‘had enough’, adding: ‘I need help’, Southwark Crown Court heard.  

In a TikTok video posted earlier that day he blamed politicians for the problems in society and warned: ‘Someone has to pay’.  

Kneller admitted dangerous driving and two counts of making indecent images of children at an earlier hearing.  

He was found to have accessed a website showing child abuse images almost 400 times.  

Prosecutor Alex Krikler said the incident at Downing Street, which happened at 4.30pm, was ‘pre-planned and deliberate’.  

‘He was well aware that armed officers were on duty and the consequences of his actions could have been catastrophic.’  

Kneller, who has ADHD and autism, was suffering from a ‘mental health breakdown’ at the time of the incident, the court heard.  

In mitigation, his barrister Charles Hannaford said: ‘This is not an individual who has thought through the consequences of their actions and how they would affect another individual.’ 

Sentencing, Judge Christopher Hehir described the incident as an ‘attack on democracy’ and said there was a ‘real risk of serious injury or death’ to police and members of the public.  

‘You chose to launch a violent attack on a place which is a government location and in many ways a symbol of democracy,’ he told Kneller.  

‘Your violent attack on it must be regarded by the courts as being of the utmost seriousness.’ 

Of the child abuse images found, the judge added: ‘You are not guilty of any contact abuse of children, but if it was not for people like you who consume these images, the abuse in question would most likely not take place.’  

However, he was persuaded to hand the defendant a suspended sentence due to his lack of previous convictions, early guilty plea, mental health issues and the ‘good prospect’ of rehabilitation.  

He also took into account the time Kneller has served in prison since his arrest.  

Kneller was handed a 15-month prison sentence, suspended for two years and ordered to complete 30 rehabilitation days together with a separate rehabilitation programme.  

He was also disqualified from driving for 18 months and banned from using the phone and car involved in the offences.  

In addition, he will be subject to a seven-year sexual harm prevention order.  

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