15 September 2023 , 12:36
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A man who scaled Windsor Castle's walls with a loaded crossbow in an bid to kill the late Queen after being encouraged by his robot girlfriend, has apologised to the King and the royal family.
Star Wars fan Jaswant Singh Chail, who was dressed as the 'Sith' character and told police "I'm here to kill the Queen", has written a letter telling the royals how "ashamed" he is of his actions, the Old Bailey has heard. A judge, Mr Justice Hilliard, is listening to evidence in his sentencing hearing to decide if the 21 year old should be given a jail term or a mental health order. The court heard that if it was not for Chail's guilty pleas and mental health he would likely have been facing a two decade prison sentence.
Defence barrister Nadia Chbat today told the court: "He has expressed regret and sadness about the effect this offending will have had on the royal family particularly at a time when her late Majesty was in her later years. He was saddened at the passing of Queen Elizabeth II, as was the rest of the nation, and despite his offending, because now he is being treated within a mental health institution you can see his good character re-emerging in this letter he has written to the court.
"He has expressed an apology to the court but also to the royal family and His Majesty King Charles and his family. He is embarrassed and ashamed that he brought such worrying times to their front door. He has expressed on numerous occasions his relief that no one was in fact hurt and I know it is of significant importance to him that he did surrender - not only did he not carry out the act but no other person was hurt by his behaviour."
He was spotted on palace CCTV (He was spotted on palace CCTV)She added: "We are dealing with a young man. Your lordship knows that at the time of this offending Mr Chail was 19 years old. Lockdown gripped the nation in March 2020 - he was only 18 years old when we went into the first lockdown. Before these events this was a young man who lived in the family home which was generally a strong family unit. The court has references from his parents and his friend, they all say that before what we submit is his decline into ill health he was a kind, humorous and gentle young man.
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"The family were close; his father works as a software consultant, his mother is a teacher of children with special needs. His elder brother moved away but lives close by working in the insurance industry and his twin sister went off to university. The events of December 2021 have utterly shocked and devastated this family unit and the defendant has sincere regret for how this has impacted on his family and that deep regret will be with him for the rest of his life.
"He has always regretted his behaviour. Of course we invite a sentence that enables him at some point to return to his family and at some point move into a future where he can take positive steps and move forward. We are dealing with someone able to reflect on how very serious these events were and how serious his mental health and decline impacted on everyone around him."
Chail arrested with the crosbsow on the floorThe court had earlier heard that Chail had sent over 6,000 messages to an AI chat bot named Sarai in the month before the offence, including 1,000 overtly sexual messages. He wanted to shoot the monarch when she visited a church in Sandringham but travelled to Windsor when he found out she would be spending Christmas Day 2021 there due to the Covid pandemic, the court has heard.
He had considered shooting King Charles, then Prince of Wales, if he could not get close enough to the Queen. Chail worked in a local Co-op but applied to join the army, MOD police, the Royal Marines and Royal Navy to try and get close to the monarch. He earlier admitted intending to injure or alarm the Sovereign, contrary to Section 2 of the Treason Act 1842, making a threat to kill the late monarch. and possession of an offensive weapon in a public place.
Defence psychiatrists claim Chail was suffering from psychosis, depression, and autistic spectrum disorder when he carried out the offences and should be kept in hospital. But Dr Nigel Blackwood, called by the prosecution, earlier told the court Chail does not have a mental health disorder and the judge should be free to send him to prison.
Mr Justice Hilliard asked prosecutor Alison Morgan, KC, to outline what prison sentences Chail would have faced before mental health is taken into consideration. The first offence, threatening to injure or alarm to sovereign has a maximum sentence of seven years. Ms Morgan said that the degree of alarm caused could not have been higher and Chail's actual intent was to do more than injure and alarm.
She said it was only because Chail gave up on his plans and handed himself in to the Windsor Castle security that he was not charged with High Treason with carries a life sentence. She suggested Chail would have been charged with plotting the death of the sovereign if he had raised his crossbow instead of lowering it.
She added: "It is not mitigation that he desisted because if he'd done anything else he would have been charged with different offences. His stated intention was to kill rather than just cause alarm or injury- he had a loaded crossbow ready to be fired."
She said that for someone with no mental health issues it would not be appropriate to make any reduction other than for guilty plea because of the severity of the offence. Chail's second offence is for possession of an offensive weapon by bringing the crossbow from his home in Hampshire to Windsor and carrying it around in public in Windsor loaded with bolts. His third offence is a threat to kill which carries a maximum sentence of 10 years.
Ms Morgan said she could offer no evidence on the effect on the direct victim, the Queen, but that those who received the video were caused very serious distress. She said: "People were distressed not only at the possibility it would have been fulfilled- but also distressed by the defendant making videos of that nature and circulating them - including the defendant's sister. I can't deal as my lord knows with the direct victim, that is simply not something I can do I'm afraid. This is the most serious type of threat to kill that one could imagine could be made."
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She said that Chail was close to being charged under section 5 of the Terrorism Act which would have carried a possible life sentence. "This is a video expressing ideology which includes an act of serious violence which he has encouraged and passed on to others. It is only because there was some doubt as to whether or not in expressing the ideology he truly intended to influence the government or a section of the public that charges were avoided, but he clearly intended others to hear and fear the threat that he was making."
Mr Justice Hilliard will decide whether Chail is given a custodial sentence, a hospital order or a hybrid of the two, on Thursday, October 5.