Close X
Thursday, November 14, 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

Indian-origin petrol station owner killed in robbery on daughter's b'day

Indian-origin petrol station owner killed in robbery on daughter's b'day
Amit Patel, 45, was gunned down at around 10 a.m. on Monday in Columbus during an apparent robbery as he was making a deposit at the bank, TV station WTVM reported quoting the county coroner.

Indian-origin petrol station owner killed in robbery on daughter's b'day

Vaccine technology improving as new variants arise

Vaccine technology improving as new variants arise
Within hours of the World Health Organization designating Omicron a variant of concern late last month, Moderna issued a press release telling the public it was already working on a vaccine booster that could target the new threat. 

Vaccine technology improving as new variants arise

EXPLAINER: What are the rules for travelers entering the US?

EXPLAINER: What are the rules for travelers entering the US?
Beginning next week, travelers heading to the U.S. will be required to show evidence of a negative test for the virus within one day of boarding their flight. The previous period was three days.

EXPLAINER: What are the rules for travelers entering the US?

US school shooting: 15-year-old suspect charged as an adult

US school shooting: 15-year-old suspect charged as an adult
The suspect in a Michigan school shooting will face charges of terrorism and first-degree murder following a rampage that left four students dead and seven injured. He has pleaded not guilty. Police are yet to identify a motive in the attack.

US school shooting: 15-year-old suspect charged as an adult

US man charged with killing his four children, mother-in-law in shooting

US man charged with killing his four children, mother-in-law in shooting
David is accused of fatally shooting the five victims aged 11, 7, 2, 1 and 51 at the family home on the 3,500 block of Garnet Lane in Lancaster in northern Los Angeles County, according to the news release.

US man charged with killing his four children, mother-in-law in shooting

Blanket travel bans will not prevent int'l spread of Omicron variant: WHO

Blanket travel bans will not prevent int'l spread of Omicron variant: WHO
The Omicron variant was first reported to the WHO by South Africa last week. So far, several countries and regions have confirmed cases of infection with Omicron. Dozens of countries have already tightened travel measures, and even suspended flights, Xinhua news agency reported.

Blanket travel bans will not prevent int'l spread of Omicron variant: WHO