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Queen crossbow threat: British Sikh intruder was inspired by ‘Star Wars’
A British Sikh crossbow-armed intruder who has admitted to committing treason after telling royal guards on Christmas Day 2021 that he was there to kill Queen Elizabeth II was inspired by ‘Star Wars’, a court hearing in London was told on Wednesday
London: A British Sikh crossbow-armed intruder who has admitted to committing treason after telling royal guards on Christmas Day 2021 that he was there to kill Queen Elizabeth II was inspired by ‘Star Wars’, a court hearing in London was told on Wednesday.
Jaswant Singh Chail, 21, who identified himself as an “Indian Sikh” and wanted to “assassinate” the late monarch as revenge for the 1919 Jallianwala Bagh massacre in Amritsar in a social media video that emerged soon after his arrest, is facing a two-day sentencing hearing at the Old Bailey court in London.
The Queen, who passed away in September last year, was in her private apartments at Windsor Castle at the time of Chail’s intrusion on the morning of December 25, 2021.
According to court reports, justice Nicholas Hilliard is hearing from experts on whether Chail was suffering from a mental disorder by reason of psychosis or autism spectrum disorder at the time of the offending.
“The defendant’s key motive was to create a new empire by destroying the remnants of the British Empire in the UK and the focal point of that became the removal of a figurehead of the royal family,” said prosecutor Alison Morgan.
“His thinking was informed partly by the fantasy world of ‘Star Wars’ and the role of what he describes of the Sith Lords in shaping that new world. He was also attracted to the notoriety that would accrue in the event of the completion of his ‘mission’,” she said.
Chail was born in Winchester, south-east England, to a family of Indian heritage and lived with his parents, twin sister and older brother in the village of North Baddesley, Hampshire.
The court was told he applied for positions within the Ministry of Defence Police (MDP), the British Army, the Royal Marines, the Royal Navy, and the Grenadier Guards in an effort to get close to the royal family.
Earlier this year, Chail admitted to an offence under the UK’s Treason Act at the same court and is expected to be sentenced on Thursday.
“This was an extremely serious incident, but one which the patrolling officers who apprehended Chail managed with great composure and professionalism,” said Commander Richard Smith, head of the Metropolitan Police’s Counter Terrorism Command which led the investigation at the time.
