1 of 3 | Windsor Castle just outside London became a crime scene in December 2021 after police arrested a 21-year-old hooded man armed with a loaded crossbow who had broken into the grounds in order to kill the Queen. File photo by Cpl Nicholas Egan, RAF/UPI |
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LONDON, Feb. 3 (UPI) -- A British man who traveled to Royal Windsor Castle armed with a loaded crossbow and threatening to kill the late Queen Elizabeth II on Christmas Day 2021 has pleaded guilty to treason at the Old Bailey in London.
Jaswant Chail, 21, pleaded guilty to making threats to kill, possession of an offensive weapon, and an offense under the 1842 Treason Act, the first person to be convicted of treason in Britain in more than 40 years, the Crown Prosecution Service said in a news release.
The court ordered medical reports be prepared for Chail, who has been in detention at high-security psychiatric hospital, before sentencing on March 31.
"Chail entered the protected areas within Windsor Castle after making threats to kill Her late Majesty Queen Elizabeth II. Thankfully police officers intervened and nobody was hurt," said Nick Price, Head of the CPS Special Crime and Counter Terrorism Division.
Chail told an armed police officer he intended to kill the queen as he was arrested on the grounds of the castle, where the queen and the rest of the royal family were spending the holidays,
He made the same threat in a video he recorded four days earlier which was posted online and sent to his contacts list about 10 minutes before his arrest, the court heard.
Chail was wearing a hood, mask and gloves when he was intercepted by an armed officer at around 8 a.m.
The officer ordered him to drop the crossbow, which he did. He was then arrested.
After being seized it was discovered the crossbow was loaded and ready to fire, with its safety catch in the ''off'' position.
Based on subsequent tests, the bow was found to be comparable to a powerful air rifle with the potential to cause serious or fatal injury.
Crossbow bolts, a metal file and other items were later found in a hotel room where Chail had stayed the previous night.
In the video Chail allegedly said he would try to assassinate the queen and apologized, before explaining that he was seeking revenge for a 1919 incident when British troops opened fire on 400 Sikh protestors in India, and for those killed, humiliated or discriminated against due to their race.
India was a colony of Britain from 1858 until its independence in 1947.
Under the 1842 Treason Act it is an offense 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.
In 1981 Marcus Sarjaent was sentenced to five years in prison after pleading guilty to firing blank shots at the queen when she was taking part in a military parade.
Windsor Castle, the oldest and largest inhabited castle in the world, has been home of British kings and queens for hundreds of years, is located about 20 miles west of London in Berkshire. Elizabeth, who died in September, is interred within the castle walls in St. Georges Chapel.
