A Sikh man who sought to assassinate the late Queen Elizabeth II with a crossbow at Windsor Castle on Christmas Day has pleaded guilty to treason.
Jaswant Singh Chail, who is of South Asian heritage, pleaded guilty to “making threats to kill, possession of an offensive weapon, and an offence under the 1842 Treason Act” during the incident at the end of 2021, according to a Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) press release.
“I’m sorry, I’m sorry for what I’ve done and what I will do. I will attempt to assassinate Elizabeth, Queen of the Royal Family,” the 21-year-old had said in a video published to Snapchat shortly before infiltrating Windsor Castle.
“This is revenge for those who have died in the 1919 Jallianwala Bagh massacre. It is also revenge for those who have been killed, humiliated and discriminated on because of their race,” he added.
He was stopped by a police officer armed with a Taser, after being spotted in the grounds of the royal residence wearing a bizarre mask and hood, who asked: “Morning, can I help, mate?”
“I am here to kill the Queen,” Chail replied frankly, and was promptly apprehended.
The Jallianwala Bagh massacre — better known as the Amritsar massacre — took place in what was then British India at a time of extreme tension, with mobs having recently murdered a number of European men, set several buildings associated with British rule set on fire, and subjected and female missionary named Marcella Sherwood to a life-threatening beating as she bicycled down the street.
It saw British commander Reginald Dyer of the British Indian Army order his mostly South Asian forces to open fire on an outlawed political gathering in a confined area with little or no warning — a black mark against the British Empire that was condemned by an official inquiry at the time, years before Elizabeth’s birth.
Crown Prosecution Service (CPS)
“Her late Majesty Queen Elizabeth II and other members of the Royal Family were at Windsor Castle when Chail – wearing a hood, mask and gloves – was intercepted by an armed officer at around 8 a.m.,” the CPS confirmed in its account of the Sikh’s conviction.
“After being seized it was discovered the crossbow was loaded and ready to fire, with its safety catch in the ‘off’ position,” the added.
The English prosecution explained that Chail was not convicted of “high treason” — a venerable crime codified by Treason Act of 1351 — but of a lesser crime introduced in the Victorian era at the urging of Victoria’s husband, Prince Albert, which makes it “an offence to assault the Sovereign or have a firearm or offensive weapon in their presence with intent to injure or alarm them or to cause a breach of peace”.
The purpose of the Victorian treason offence was to deal with criminals like John Francis, who aimed a pistol at Victoria on two separate occasions but did not fire it, and John Bean, who did fire a pistol at her but had only loaded it with paper and tobacco, so they would not attract the death sentence the 1351 carried at the time.
Chail will be sentenced at the Old Bailey in March, following the examination of medical reports.
Crown Prosecution Service (CPS)
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