Briton freed after stripping off at palace
Posted
Japanese police have released a British tourist who shocked onlookers by swimming naked in the moat of the country's Imperial Palace, concluding he had mental problems.
The bald, heavy-set and visibly agitated man was chased by officers around the palace for two hours.
He dived into the moat and pelted them with stones.
"We decided to hand the man over to his friend without charging him as we concluded that his act was based on mental instability," a police spokesman said.
Bystanders snapped photos of the 40-year-old, whose antics were a top story on Japanese television.
The Japanese show respect in public for Emperor Akihito and most of the Imperial Palace is off-limits to commoners.
A British embassy spokesman confirmed the man was British and said he received consular assistance but declined further details, citing privacy issues.
Media reports said the man lived in Spain.
The incident came on the same day Japan announced a visit this month by Prince Charles and his wife Camilla -- the first in nearly two decades here by the heir to the British throne.
They will meet the emperor and Empress Michiko at the palace.
- AFP
