| Advertisement |
Aug. 17 (UPI) -- A British man who was arrested on the grounds of Windsor Castle with a loaded crossbow last Christmas told police that he was there to kill Queen Elizabeth II, prosecutors said at a hearing Wednesday. The man, Jaswant Singh Chail, appeared remotely for the hearing at London's Westminster Magistrate's Court from a high-security psychiatric hospital.
Advertisement
Chail is charged under Britain's Treason Act after authorities said he planned for months to attack the queen and searched for ways to gain access to the royal family. He's charged with making threats to kill and possessing an offensive weapon.
According to prosecutors, Chail recorded a video before entering the grounds of Windsor Castle on Dec. 25, 2021 -- a day when the queen was there.
"I am sorry for what I have done and what I will do," Chail said in the video. "I am going to attempt to assassinate Elizabeth, queen of the royal family."
Chail was arrested a few hours before Queen Elizabeth II gave her annual Christmas address from the castle.
Prosecutors said that when he was arrested, Chail told police, "I am here to kill the queen."
Windsor Castle, the oldest and largest inhabited castle in the world that's been home of British kings and queens for hundreds of years, is located about 20 miles west of London in Berkshire County.
Chail also said in his video that he wanted revenge for the 1919 massacre of nearly 400 unarmed Sikhs in the Indian city of Amritsar. British troops fired on the crowd that was protesting a colonial law.
Prosecutor Kathryn Selby said at Wednesday's hearing that Chail carried a Supersonic X-Bow, a crossbow weapon that can kill.
Chail is next scheduled to appear in court on Sept. 14.
