Jaswant Chail, who claimed he wanted to kill Queen Elizabeth, apologized to King Charles III
London:
A British intruder carrying a Sikh crossbow who admitted to committing treason after telling royal guards at Windsor Castle on Christmas Day 2021 that he was there to kill Queen Elizabeth II has apologized to King Charles III and the royal family, a British court heard Friday.
Jaswant Singh Chail, 21, who claimed he wanted to ‘kill’ the late monarch as revenge for the 1919 Jallianwala Bagh massacre in Amritsar, has written a letter to his ‘ express distress’. and grief”. Judge Nicholas Hilliard heard evidence in the case at the Old Bailey Court in London, where he will pass sentence early next month.
“He has apologized to the Royal Family and His Majesty King Charles. He is ashamed of having brought such horrific and worrying times to their doorstep,” Jaswant Chail’s lawyer Nadia Chbat told the court.
According to court reports from this week’s hearing, Jaswant Chail’s “strong family unit” includes his father, a software consultant who works in aerospace; his mother, a special education teacher; and his twin sister, a university student.
Jaswant Chail is said to suffer from mental health issues, and the threat to the late queen was instigated by an artificial intelligence “girlfriend” named Sarai and inspired by his ‘Star Wars’ fascination. The prosecutor now describes it as a serious crime and is demanding the maximum sentence.
Jaswant Chail appeared in court via video link from Broadmoor high-security psychiatric hospital in Berkshire. Friday’s hearing follows evidence from psychiatrists about Chail’s mental state, as the judge considers whether he should be jailed, detained under the UK’s Mental Health Act or face a combination of both.
Previously, the 21-year-old had pleaded guilty to an offense under section 2 of the Treason Act, 1842; an offense of threatening to kill contrary to section 16 of the Offenses Against the Person Act 1861; and an offense of possessing an offensive weapon contrary to Section 1 of the Prevention of Crime Act 1953.
“He had made a video of himself expressing his desire to harm the late queen, which he sent to a group of contacts shortly before he was arrested. Further investigation into Jaswant Chail revealed further evidence of his plans and motives. Evidence recovered by officers showed that he harbored ill feelings towards the British Empire over its past treatment of people in India,” a Met Police statement said.
The Queen, who died in September last year, was in her private apartments at Windsor Castle at the time of Chail’s break-in on the morning of December 25, 2021. Two officers spotted the intruder in the castle grounds and one approached him.
Wearing black clothing and a handmade metal mask, he told officers he was there to kill the late Majesty Queen Elizabeth II. Chail was carrying a crossbow loaded with an arrow, and the officers drew their Taser gun and arrested him.
The social media video that later emerged showed a masked man identifying himself as Indian Sikh Jaswant Singh Chail saying he wanted to “kill” the queen in revenge for the 1919 Jallianwala Bagh massacre in Amritsar.
Under the Treason Act of 1842, it is an offense to assault the British sovereign or to have a firearm or offensive weapon in their presence with intent to wound or alarm them or to cause a breach of the peace.
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