LONDON (REUTERS) - A man caught armed with a knife trying to break into Buckingham Palace, the London home of Queen Elizabeth, was sentenced on Wednesday to 16 months in jail.

David Belmar, 44, appeared in Southwark Crown Court in London having pleaded guilty to trespassing on a protected site last October and in possession of a bladed article. Police said he was arrested trying to enter one of the palace gates.

The Queen was not at the palace at the time.

Belmar, of Haringey, north London, was sentenced to 16 months imprisonment for possession of a knife and 6 months to run concurrently for trespass.

The incident came only a month after police arrested two men over a break-in at the palace in one of the most serious security breaches there in around 30 years.

A police spokesman said both were bailed with no charges yet laid. One of the men, aged 37, is now under the care of mental health care professionals.

One of the biggest security breaches at Buckingham Palace happened in 1982 when an intruder, Michael Fagan, climbed a wall and wandered into a room where the Queen was in bed.