Close X
Monday, November 11, 2024
ADVT 
International

British Sikh gets 9 years in jail for plotting to kill Queen Elizabeth II

Darpan News Desk, 06 Oct, 2023 12:24 PM
  • British Sikh gets 9 years in jail for plotting to kill Queen Elizabeth II

London, Oct 6 (IANS) A crossbow-wielding British Sikh who had threatened to "assassinate the Queen in revenge for the 1919 Jallianwala Bagh massacre" in 2021, has been sentenced to nine years in prison by a UK court.

Jaswant Singh Chail, 21, had admitted to treason charges in February this year for scaling the Windsor Castle walls and telling royal guards on Christmas Day 2021 that he was there to kill the late Queen Elizabeth II.

Chail, who identified himself as an "Indian Sikh" in a social media video that emerged soon after the incident, reportedly suffered from mental health issues and was partly inspired to attack the Queen inspired by the Star Wars films.

A London court heard that Chail fantasised about killing the late monarch since adolescence, and had shared this information with an artificial intelligence-powered "girlfriend" he named Sarai.

Justice Nicholas Hilliard said despite conflicting diagnoses from different experts, he concluded that Chail lost touch with reality and had become psychotic, but that the seriousness of the crimes required him to serve prison time, ABC News reported.

According to the report, Chail will first return to a psychiatric facility where he has been receiving treatment, and if deemed to be well enough in the future, he will serve the rest of his sentence in prison.

“The defendant harbored homicidal thoughts which he acted on before he became psychotic," Hilliard was quoted as saying by ABC News.

“His intention was not just to harm or alarm the sovereign — but to kill her.”

Chail had also written in a journal that if the Queen was "unobtainable" he would "go for" the prince as a "suitable figurehead", in an apparent reference to King Charles III.

He had scaled the perimeter of the grounds with a nylon rope ladder, some two hours before his arrest.

He was wearing a hood and mask and was carrying a crossbow loaded with a bolt, with the safety catch off and ready to fire.

The prosecution told the court that the Supersonic X-Bow weapon he was carrying had the potential to cause "serious or fatal injuries".

The Queen was in her private apartments at Windsor Castle at the time of the intrusion.

MORE International ARTICLES

Ukrainians need support, not resettlement: UNHCR

Ukrainians need support, not resettlement: UNHCR
The UNHCR will discuss resettlement options with countries like Canada at a later stage, but Jamous says typically the demand from people looking for a new home far outstrips the opportunities offered by governments.

Ukrainians need support, not resettlement: UNHCR

WATCH: WOMEN'S SPECIAL COVER | DARPAN MAGAZINE | TEASER

WATCH: WOMEN'S SPECIAL COVER | DARPAN MAGAZINE | TEASER
DARPAN salutes the women in our community for their relentless courage and unyielding voice that has shaped BC’s South Asian community in Canada.

WATCH: WOMEN'S SPECIAL COVER | DARPAN MAGAZINE | TEASER

Russia puts nuclear forces on high combat alert

Russia puts nuclear forces on high combat alert
Many countries, including the US, the UK and EU member states, have imposed sweeping sanctions on Russia in response to its military operation in Ukraine. Earlier, Putin had placed the country's nuclear deterrent forces on "special" alert on Sunday

Russia puts nuclear forces on high combat alert

Mysterious symbols emerge on various buildings in Kyiv

Mysterious symbols emerge on various buildings in Kyiv
Red and orange crosshairs have been painted onto various structures in the capital, including several high-rise buildings, with certain symbols only visible under UV light.

Mysterious symbols emerge on various buildings in Kyiv

Gujarati community in Poland extends help to Indians arriving from Ukraine

Gujarati community in Poland extends help to Indians arriving from Ukraine
"The Bochasanwasi Akshar Purushottam Swaminarayan (BAPS) institute and the Sindhi community as well as the Gurudwara in Poland have come forward to help the stranded students as well as Indians evacuated from Ukraine," Patel said.

Gujarati community in Poland extends help to Indians arriving from Ukraine

16 kids killed in explosions, claims Ukrainian envoy to India

16 kids killed in explosions, claims Ukrainian envoy to India
While requesting foreign partners to exert pressure on the Russian President to stop the war, Polikha said that air space of Europe was closed for the Russian airplanes. The Russian economy is going down every day. Russia is having absolutely unprecedented casualties. Approximately 5,300 Russian soldiers have lost their lives in the ongoing tussle, he claimed.

16 kids killed in explosions, claims Ukrainian envoy to India