Windsor Castle treason arrest man inspired by Star Wars

A antheral who arrived astatine Windsor Castle equipped with a crossbow "to kill" the precocious Queen was partially inspired by the Star Wars films, a tribunal heard.

Jaswant Singh Chail, from Hampshire, was arrested connected Christmas Day 2021 portion Queen Elizabeth II was surviving astatine Windsor owed to the pandemic.

He admitted a complaint nether the Treason Act and to making threats to termination and possessing an violative weapon.

Chail had antecedently tried to get adjacent to the royals, the Old Bailey heard.

The 21-year-old's sentencing proceeding was told helium applied for jobs wrong the equipped forces that could person led to a "close proximity" to the monarch.

The erstwhile supermarket idiosyncratic demonstrated a wider ideology focused connected destroying aged empires and creating a caller one, including successful the fictional discourse specified arsenic Star Wars, the tribunal heard.

Chail had described himself arsenic a "Sith" and "Darth Jones" successful a video and confided his murderous program to an Artificial Intelligence companion.

He besides wrote successful a diary that if the Queen was "unobtainable" helium would "go for" the prince arsenic a "suitable figurehead", successful an evident notation to King Charles.

Alison Morgan KC, prosecuting, said Chail had applied for positions wrong the Ministry of Defence Police, British Army, Royal Marines and Royal Navy, but his applications were rejected.

She said Chail was "concerned" with the "injustice" of the 1919 Jallianwala Bagh massacre, which took spot erstwhile British troops opened occurrence connected thousands of radical who had gathered successful the metropolis of Amritsar successful India.

Chail, from North Baddesley, adjacent Southampton, was calved successful Winchester and his household is of Indian Sikh heritage.

In a video shown to the court, Chail, who was 19 astatine the clip of the offences, was dressed each successful black, wearing a disguise and holding a crossbow.

Speaking into the camera, helium said: "I'm sorry. I'm atrocious for what I've done and what I volition do.

"I'm going to effort to assassinate Elizabeth Queen of the Royal Family.

"This is revenge for those who person died successful the 1919 Jallianwala Bagh massacre.

"It is besides revenge for those who person been killed, humiliated, and discriminated connected due to the fact that of their race."

Ms Morgan said the "defendant's cardinal motive was to make a caller empire by destroying the remnants of the British Empire successful the UK", and "the focal constituent of that became removal of the figurehead of the Royal Family".

She said his reasoning was informed partially by the phantasy satellite of Star Wars and "the relation of Sith Lords successful shaping the world".

"He was attracted to the notoriety that would accrue successful the lawsuit of the completion of his 'mission'," she added.

Chail was spotted by a royal extortion serviceman successful a backstage conception of the castle grounds conscionable aft 08:10 GMT connected 25 December 2021.

The tribunal was told Chail was wearing a disguise and looked similar "something retired of a vigilante movie".

He told the serviceman helium was determination "to termination the Queen".

Under the 1842 Treason Act it is an offence to battle the monarch oregon person a firearm, oregon violative limb successful their beingness with intent to injure oregon alarm them, oregon to origin a breach of peace.

In 1981, Marcus Sarjeant was jailed for 5 years nether the conception of the Treason Act aft helium fired blank shots astatine the Queen portion she was riding down The Mall successful London during the Trooping the Colour parade.

The sentencing proceeding continues.