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Police and prosecutors will decide whether to press charges against the protester who interrupted Tony Blair's evidence to the Leveson Inquiry.

David Lawley Wakelin, 49, burst into Court 73 at the Royal Courts of Justice yesterday where he accused the former Prime Minister of being a war criminal.

Lord Justice Leveson ordered an investigation and today updated the Inquiry on its progress.

He said: "Yesterday morning a man by the name of David Lawley Wakelin interrupted and disrupted the proceedings of this Inquiry for purposes of his own.

"I directed that an inquiry should take place and it has how been completed.

"Appropriate measures to prevent any risk of repetition have been taken.

"It is of critical importance that witnesses can give evidence without disruption of any sort and in those circumstances I am today referring this incident to the Director of Public Prosecutions and the Crown Prosecution Service who, in conjunction with the Metropolitan Police Service, can decide the way in which the matter can be dealt with appropriately."

Lord Justice Leveson gave his update just before Education Secretary Michael Gove, the second of today's witnesses, prepared to take the oath and give evidence.

The high court judge appeared angry yesterday when Mr Lawley Wakelin managed to evade security and access the court room through a back corridor.

The intruder, who made a film called The Alternative Iraq Enquiry, brought proceedings to a halt by hurling accusations at the former Prime Minister.

He said: "JP Morgan paid him off for the Iraq war. Three months after he invaded Iraq they held up the Iraq bank for 20 billion.

"He was then paid six million dollars every year and still is from JP Morgan six months after he left office.

"This man is a war criminal."

He was eventually wrestled to the ground by three men, ejected from the courtroom and arrested.

Mr Blair denied the claims.

Lord Justice Leveson, who rose to his feet when the intruder entered dressed in white shirt and trousers, called for an immediate inquiry, saying: "I would like to find out how this gentleman managed to access the court through what's supposed to be a secure corridor, and I'll have an investigation undertaken about that immediately."

Scotland Yard said Mr Lawley Wakelin was arrested on suspicion of breach of the peace and was held in custody at a central London police station. He was released without charge.

He said later that it was "surprisingly easy" to get into the court.

He told James O'Brien on LBC 97.3: "I just went ... up the back stairs and found that there was no security at all and in fact the door to the court was wide open in the same way that Lord Leveson himself would have got in there."

It was "a little unnerving" to find himself suddenly in the spotlight, he said, but that he decided his "beef with Tony Blair is too great to miss this opportunity".

The police asked him to stay away from the rest of the Leveson Inquiry and he intended to obey that order, he said.

But speaking exclusively to the Evening Standard the film-maker and veteran anti-Iraq War protester said he had no regrets.

Explaining how he slipped past security he said: “It was very straightforward. I first tried to get in the front door but I didn’t have a ticket.

“I hadn’t seen Lord Leveson going in the front so I realised there must be another way. I went down two flights of stairs, through an open courtyard and found another stairway. There was no security there at all, no-one. I just walked through the door and found myself in the committee room. I’ve no doubt heads will roll about that.”

He then shouted to the stunned court room: “JP Morgan paid him [Blair] off for the Iraq war. Three months after he invaded Iraq they held up the Iraq bank for 20 billion. He was then paid six million dollars every year and still is from JP Morgan six months after he left office. This man is a war criminal.”

As security guards bundled the intruder out of the chamber, an unruffled Mr Blair - who is a senior adviser at JP Morgan on a reported salary of between £500,000 and £2.5 million - immediately denied the accusation as being “completely untrue”.

Lawley-Wakelin, 49, from Harlesden, who is separated from wife Alison, told the Standard: “It was quite nerve-wracking because I didn’t know what would happen next.

“When I spoke I could see Blair in the corner of my eye. He looked surprised and shocked but it was interesting that he immediately had a response. For him to react like that makes him look even more guilty.

“I was dragged out and arrested, there was a bit of a scuffle and I was taken to the police station. But the police handled me very well, they just gave me a ticking off and warned me not to do it again.”

Lawley-Wakelin, who launched a similar attack during an episode of Question Time on the BBC, said: “It’s fantastic that we live in a country where you can do something like that without being shot or locked up and tortured.”

He was released without charge yesterday evening, and gave a string of interviews to national media outlets repeating his views.

He said: “I believe very strongly that Blair should be arrested himself. I believe it’s wrong to invade another country for their oil.

“I will keep going with my campaign to get Blair indicted before the War Crimes tribunal. I will keep going in the hope that one day he gets taken down.”

He said he had no regrets that his direct action had eclipsed the detail of Blair’s grilling in news reports.

He said: “I’m aware that my actions will have overtaken what Blair had to say to Leveson in the media, but he’s only a minor witness in this really. And he’s so well used to bluffing his way through without giving anything away that I don’t think disrupting his appearance would make much difference.

“If he appears in public I will try to get to him wherever he appears. If he steps out of his front door in public I will be there. I will hound him for the rest of his life, and you can quote me on that.

“But I won’t be going back to Leveson again today. The police warned me the repercussions would be more serious if I tried again and, anyway, I’m not that interested in Hazel Blears.”

When the hearing resumed for the afternoon session, Lord Leveson said: “Considerable effort has been put into ensuring all witnesses can give their evidence in a safe and secure environment and I very much regret what has happened.

“Efforts will be redoubled to ensure that incidents of this nature don’t recur.”