Indian-origin man sentenced to 9 years in prison for hatching plot to kill Queen Elizabeth

An Indian-origin man, who admitted to his intention to kill the late Queen Elizabeth II after he was arrested at Windsor Castle armed with a loaded crossbow on Christmas Day 2021, was sentenced to nine years in prison by a UK court on Thursday (Oct 5).

Jaswant Singh Chail, 21, who claimed he wanted to "kill the queen" as a revenge for the 1919 Jallianwala Bagh massacre in Amritsar, has been handed a "hybrid" sentence order taking into consideration his mental health issues.

He will serve the first part of his term in the high-security Broadmoor Psychiatric Hospital and will be moved to prison when his mental health allows.

Sentencing judge Nicholas Hilliard at London's Old Bailey court ruled that Chail must be detained in Broadmoor's top security psychiatric hospital before being sent to prison "when he has received the treatment he needs".

The judge said the former supermarket worker had "lost touch with reality such that he had become psychotic" by the time he entered Windsor Castle but his responsibility for his offences was significant.

"He had conceived of killing the queen early in 2021 when he was not psychotic. He took steps to try and get closer to his target and learn useful skills when, again, he was not psychotic," the judge noted.

He concluded that Jaswant Chail had ultimately acted upon his "homicidal thoughts" and therefore posed a threat of "serious harm" to the public, which further compelled a custodial order.

Fascination with 'Star Wars'

The judge also said that Chail had been "informed by the fantasy world of Star Wars" and scaled the intentional foray bedecked as a Sith Lord, sporting an iron mask, armed with a loaded crossbow.

Chail also believed that he was conversing with an angel via an AI chatbot, Sarai, asking her to help decide if he should carry the attack or not.

Prosecutor Alison Morgan previously said that "in addition to that fixation with a real historic event, the defendant demonstrated a wider ideology focused on destroying old empires spilling over into fictional events such as Star Wars".

"He had made a video of himself stating his desire to harm the late Queen, which he sent to a group of contacts shortly before he was arrested. Further enquiries into Jaswant Chail uncovered further evidence of his planning and motives. Evidence recovered by officers showed that he harboured ill-feeling towards the British empire for its past treatment of Indian people," a Met Police statement noted.

Chail recorded a video before initiating the incident that he shared with his contacts, where he said, "I am sorry for what I have done and what I will do. I am going to attempt to assassinate Elizabeth, queen of the royal family."

"This is revenge for those who died in the 1919 massacre," he further said referring to the Jallianwala Bagh massacre in Amritsar where British colonial troops shot dead nearly 400 Sikhs.

(With inputs from agencies)

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