Star Wars’-Inspired British-Sikh Intruder Threatens Late Queen with Crossbow

London” A British Sikh crossbow-armed intruder who has admitted to committing treason after telling royal guards on Christmas Day 2021 that he was there to kill Queen Elizabeth II was inspired by ‘Star Wars’, a court hearing in London was told on Wednesday.

Jaswant Singh Chail, 21, who identified himself as an “Indian Sikh” and wanted to “assassinate” the late monarch as revenge for the 1919 Jallianwala Bagh massacre in Amritsar in a social media video that emerged soon after his arrest, is facing a two-day sentencing hearing at the Old Bailey court in London.

According to court reports, Justice Nicholas Hilliard is hearing from experts on whether Chail was suffering from a mental disorder by reason of psychosis or autism spectrum disorder at the time of the offending.

“His thinking was informed partly by the fantasy world of ‘Star Wars’ and the role of what he describes of the Sith Lords in shaping that new world. He was also attracted to the notoriety that would accrue in the event of the completion of his ‘mission’,” she said.

Chail was born in Winchester, south-east England, to a family of Indian heritage and lived with his parents, twin sister and older brother in the village of North Baddesley, Hampshire.

Earlier this year, Chail admitted to an offence under the UK’s Treason Act at the same court and is expected to be sentenced on Thursday.

“This was an extremely serious incident, but one which the patrolling officers who apprehended Chail managed with great composure and professionalism,” said Commander Richard Smith, head of the Metropolitan Police’s Counter Terrorism Command which led the investigation at the time.

The 21-year-old pleaded guilty to an offence under Section 2 of the Treason Act, 1842, an offence of threats to kill contrary to Section 16 of the Offences Against the Person Act 1861, and an offence of possession of an offensive weapon contrary to Section 1 of the Prevention of Crime Act 1953. “He had made a video of himself stating his desire to harm the late Queen, which he sent to a group of contacts shortly before he was arrested. Further enquiries into Chail uncovered further evidence of his planning and motives. Evidence recovered by officers showed that he harboured ill-feeling towards the British empire for its past treatment of Indian people,” a Met Police statement revealed earlier.

The Queen was in her private apartments at Windsor Castle at the time of Chail’s intrusion in 2021. Two officers saw the intruder within the grounds of the Castle and one approached him.

The social media video which emerged later showed a masked man identifying himself as Indian Sikh Jaswant Singh Chail and saying he wanted to “assassinate” the Queen as revenge for the Jallianwala Bagh massacre in Amritsar in 1919.

Hundreds of people were killed by British troops on Baisakhi Day on April 13, 1919, as they fired indiscriminately on an unarmed gathering of thousands who had assembled in Jallianwala Bagh in Punjab.