Royal Family News: Jaswant Singh Chail in Court, Man Sought to Kill Queen Elizabeth with Crossbow

Jaswant Singh Chail, the crossbow-wielding man arrested on Windsor Castle grounds told police he wanted to “kill the Queen,” prosecutors said in a court hearing Wednesday, August 17. Read on and we’ll give you the low down.

Royal Family News: Chail’s Charges

Royal Family news reveals that, according to WWNY TV, a man who managed to breach Windsor Castle grounds armed with a crossbow reportedly told police that he wanted to “kill the Queen.” Jaswant Singh Chail, 20, was charged under the Treason Act for intending to “injure the person of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II, or to alarm her Majesty.”

He was also charged with threats to kill and possession of an offensive weapon the news outlet reported. Chail was taken into custody at the royal residence in West London on Christmas day last year.

Chail Sent Video Claiming He was Going to Kill the Queen

Prosecutors say that Chail, a former supermarket worker from Southhampton in Southern England, was dressed in a hood and mask and carried a crossbow with the safety catch off according to AP News.

Prosecutor Kathryn Selby said the weapon allegedly carried by Chail, a Supersonic X-Bow, could potentially have caused “serious or fatal injuries.” Prosecutors also allege that the suspect’s exclamation “I’m here to kill the Queen” came before Chail was arrested and handcuffed.

They maintain that the defendant wanted to exact revenge on the British establishment for its treatment of Indians. He allegedly sent a video to about 20 people in which he claimed he was going to kill the Queen.

Charges Not Treated as Terrorism

According to The Guardian, the prosecution clarified that the allegations were not being treated as terrorism even though they had been handled by the counter-terrorism division. The outlet reported that the last time a person had been jailed via the Treason Act was in 1981.

Marcus Sarjeant plead guilty to firing blanks at the Queen as she rode down the Mall during Trooping the Colour that year. He was sentenced to five years in prison for the offense.

The Treason Acts

According to prosecutors, Chail had attempted to join the British Army as well as the Ministry of Defense Police, in order to get close to the Royal Family.

Chail appeared in court via remote link from Broadmoor, a high-security psychiatric hospital, for Wednesday’s hearing. At the time he was not asked to proffer a plea and was subsequently ordered to be detained until his next court date on September 14.

Charges under the Treason Act of 1842 are rare. Under the separate and more serious Treason Act of 1351, William Joyce a World War II Nazi propaganda broadcaster known as Lord Haw-Haw was convicted and hanged for high treason in 1946.

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