A man has admitted trying to harm the Queen after being caught in the grounds of Windsor Castle with a loaded crossbow.
Jaswant Singh Chail told police he was “here to kill the Queen” after breaking into the grounds on Christmas Day 2021.
Today he pleaded guilty to charges under section two of the Treason Act 1842, along with possession of an offensive weapon and making threats to kill.
The 21-year-old, from Southampton, was wearing a mask at the time and the Queen was in residence.
He came within sight of the late monarch’s private apartments when he was stopped by a police officer.
The officer said he looked like “something out of a vigilante movie”.
The crossbow was loaded with a bolt at the scene. Pic: Gardham/CPS
Chail, a former supermarket worker, had uploaded a video to TikTok half an hour before his stunt, saying he was taking revenge for the Amritsar massacre of 1919 in India.
He had a fringe and neatly trimmed beard as he appeared by video link in court from a room at Broadmoor secure mental hospital, wearing a black jacket with fake fur collar, black t-shirt.
He spoke only to enter his pleas, leaning forward to speak into the microphone.
A previous hearing was told that shortly after 8.10am on 25 December 2021, an officer was on duty at the gate which serves as the main vehicle and foot access into the private part of the castle.
The Queen was in her private apartments at the time and the gate “allowed immediate access to the apartments. It is never open to the public,” Kathryn Selby, prosecuting, said.
‘Morning, can I help mate?’
The officer saw Chail walking slowly through the private grounds towards him and began to approach him.
As he did so, the officer realised that Chail had his hood over his head and was wearing a mask which the officer described as “like something out of a vigilante movie or dressed for Halloween.”
The officer unclipped his Taser before saying, “Morning, can I help mate?”
Chail told him: “I am here to kill the Queen.”
Realising that the man was holding a crossbow, the officer drew his Taser and shouted for him to drop the weapon and get to his knees.
Chail immediately complied, placing his hands on the top of his head when told to do so, before repeating “I am here to kill the Queen.”
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The weapon was loaded with a crossbow bolt with the safety catch off and ready to fire.
Prosecutors revealed that crossbow bolts, a metal file and other items were later found in a hotel room, where Chail had stayed the previous night.
The crossbow was said to be comparable to a powerful air rifle and had the potential to cause serious or fatal injury.
The video in which Chail claimed responsibility had been recorded four days earlier and sent to Chail’s contacts list about 10 minutes before his arrest, prosecutors said.
‘Please don’t remove my clothes’
During a search, a handwritten note was found that read: “Please don’t remove my clothes, shoes and gloves, masks etc, don’t want post mortem, don’t want embalming, thank you and I’m sorry.”
He was 19 at the time of the attempted attack and a British citizen, born in Winchester, without any previous convictions, cautions or traces on the police national computer.
Nick Price, head of the Special Crime and Counter-Terrorism Division of the Crown Prosecution Service, said Chail had been intercepted by armed officers in what was a “rare” incident.
The case was investigated by Scotland Yard’s Counter-Terrorism Command.
Commander Richard Smith, who leads the Counter-Terrorism Command, said after the plea hearing: “This was an extremely serious incident, but one which the patrolling officers who apprehended Chail managed with great composure and professionalism.
“They showed tremendous bravery to confront a masked man who was armed with a loaded crossbow, and then detain him without anyone coming to harm.”
Reason for delay to treason case
Chail was detained under the Mental Health Act before being sectioned and transferred to Broadmoor secure mental health unit in February.
Alison Morgan KC, prosecuting, said that a report produced in November indicated he was now fit to enter pleas, after it noted a significant improvement in his health.
Reporting restrictions on the details of the case were lifted after Chail pleaded guilty to attempting to injure or alarm the sovereign, contrary to section two of the Treason Act 1842.
The case was adjourned for further psychiatric reports and he will be sentenced on 31 March.
