Queen Elizabeth in Windsor, England in 2010.Photo:Dan Kitwood/WPA Pool/Getty
Dan Kitwood/WPA Pool/Getty
The young British man who breached the grounds of Windsor Castle on Christmas Day in 2021 with a plan to killQueen Elizabethhas received a prison sentence.
On Thursday, Jaswant Singh Chail was sentenced to a nine-year hybrid order at the Central Criminal Court of England and Wales, the Metropolitan Police said in astatement. The 21-year-old man from Southampton will split the sentence between a mental health facility and prison, then remain on license for five years after his release.
“Chail had been planning his actions for several months, and up until shortly before his arrest, his intent to cause serious harm to or kill the Queen was clear,” Commander Dominic Murphy of the Met’s Counter Terrorism Command said in the statement. “The professionalism, skill and bravery that the officers demonstrated as they confronted a masked man armed with a crossbow was exemplary. The fact that nobody came to any harm was down to the way they handled the situation. This could have easily ended up with somebody getting seriously injured, or worse.”
Press Association via AP
According to the outlet, he told officers, “I am here to kill the Queen,” before being arrested.
Shail was detained under the Mental Health Act, and the Met’s Counter Terrorism Command proceeded to lead the investigation. In Thursday’s statement, police said that he had circulated a video about wanting to hurt Queen Elizabeth shortly before his arrest and had thoroughly planned the attack.
Queen Elizabeth’s Christmas broadcast in 2021.Victoria Jones/Getty
Victoria Jones/Getty
The intruderwas chargedin August 2022 with making threats to kill, possession of an offensive weapon and an offense under section 2 of the Treason Act 1842.
He pleaded guilty to the three charges at Central Criminal Court, which is known as the Old Bailey, in February.The New York Timesreported that it marked the first conviction under the Treason Act in more than 40 years.
According to theAssociated Press, Chail did speak during the sentencing and apologized to King Charles and the royals for the “distress and sadness” he caused in a letter to the court.
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Then-Prince Charles and Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall arrive at St George’s Chapel, Windsor Castle on Dec. 25, 2021.JONATHAN BRADY/POOL/AFP via Getty
JONATHAN BRADY/POOL/AFP via Getty
“He is embarrassed and ashamed he brought such horrific and worrying times to their front door,” defense lawyer Nadia Chbat said, according to the AP.
Like millions of others, Queen Elizabethhad to reimagineher holiday plans due to the coronavirus pandemic in 2021. She opted to not head to her Sandringham estate in Norfolk, where she normally stayed during the season, and celebrated instead at Windsor Castle as the Omicron variant caused a spike in COVID cases.
As she did throughout her record reign, the monarch delivered hertraditional Christmas broadcastand members of the royal family, including Charles and Camilla,joined her forChristmas at the castle. The couple attended achurch serviceat St. George’s Chapel at Windsor that morning, though the Queen was not pictured.
On Sept. 8, 2022, Queen Elizabeth died “peacefully” at age 96 at Balmoral Castle in Scotland, hours after her doctors announced they were “concerned” for her health. Her cause of death waslater revealedas “old age.”
source: people.com
