London:
A British Sikh crossbow-armed intruder who has admitted to committing treason after telling royal guards at Windsor Fortress on Christmas Day 2021 that he was there to kill Queen Elizabeth II has apologised to King Charles III and the royal household, a UK court docket heard on Friday.
Jaswant Singh Chail, 21, who claimed he wished to “assassinate” the late monarch as revenge for the 1919 Jallianwala Bagh bloodbath in Amritsar, in accordance with a social media video that emerged quickly after his arrest, has written a letter to precise his “misery and disappointment”. Justice Nicholas Hilliard has been listening to proof within the case on the Previous Bailey court docket in London, the place he’ll hand down the sentence early subsequent month.
“He has apologised to the royal household and His Majesty King Charles. He’s embarrassed and ashamed he introduced such horrific and worrying occasions to their entrance door,” Jaswant Chail’s barrister Nadia Chbat informed the court docket.
In accordance with court docket stories from the listening to this week, Jaswant Chail’s “sturdy household unit” consists of his father, a software program guide working in aerospace; his mom, a particular wants instructor; and his twin sister, a college pupil.
Jaswant Chail was stated to be affected by psychological well being points, and the menace to the late Queen was instigated by a synthetic intelligence “girlfriend” named Sarai and impressed by his ‘Star Wars’ fascination. The prosecution, in the meantime, described it as a severe crime and is searching for the utmost sentence.
Jaswant Chail appeared in court docket by video hyperlink from the high-security psychiatric hospital Broadmoor in Berkshire. Friday’s listening to follows proof from psychiatrists about Chail’s psychological state because the choose considers whether or not he needs to be imprisoned, detained below the UK Psychological Well being Act or face a mixture of the 2.
Earlier, the 21-year-old had pleaded responsible to an offence below Part 2 of the Treason Act, 1842; an offence of threats to kill opposite to Part 16 of the Offences Towards the Particular person Act 1861; and an offence of possession of an offensive weapon opposite to Part 1 of the Prevention of Crime Act 1953.
“He had made a video of himself stating his need to hurt the late Queen, which he despatched to a gaggle of contacts shortly earlier than he was arrested. Additional enquiries into Jaswant Chail uncovered additional proof of his planning and motives. Proof recovered by officers confirmed that he harboured ill-feeling in the direction of the British empire for its previous remedy of individuals in India,” a Met Police assertion famous.
The Queen, who died in September final 12 months, was in her personal flats at Windsor Fortress on the time of Chail’s intrusion on the morning of December 25, 2021. Two officers noticed the intruder inside the grounds of the Fortress, and one approached him.
He was sporting black clothes and a home made steel masks and stated to the officers he was there to kill late Majesty Queen Elizabeth II. Chail was carrying a crossbow loaded with a bolt, and the officers drew their Taser gun and arrested him.
The social media video that emerged later confirmed a masked man figuring out himself as Indian Sikh Jaswant Singh Chail and saying he wished to “assassinate” the Queen as revenge for the Jallianwala Bagh bloodbath in Amritsar in 1919.
Beneath the 1842 Treason Act, it’s an offence to assault the British Sovereign or have a firearm or offensive weapon of their presence with intent to injure or alarm them or to trigger a breach of peace.
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