Windsor Castle intruder believed he was on 'mission' to kill Queen

Jaswant Singh Chail was pictured after his arrest on 25 December 2021

A self-styled Star Wars assassin who entered the grounds of Windsor Castle "to kill" the late Queen believed he was a character who had to "right historical wrong", a court has heard.

Jaswant Singh Chail was armed with a crossbow when he was arrested on Christmas Day 2021.

He admitted a charge under the Treason Act and to making threats to kill and possessing an offensive weapon.

The 21-year-old's sentencing hearing heard he showed psychosis symptoms.

Chail was found by police wearing a hood and a mask

Chail, from North Baddesley, near Southampton, demonstrated a wider ideology focused on destroying old empires and creating a new one, including in the fictional context such as Star Wars, it was heard.

The former supermarket worker was seen in a homemade video calling himself "Darth Chailus" and a "Sith" in a distorted voice.

The Old Bailey was told a character "had emerged out of him" to "right historical wrong".

He believed he was on a "mission" with a "harsh purpose" and described a mask he wore when he arrived at the castle as his "true face".

His "harsh purpose" was reinforced by his interactions with "his angels", including his Artificial Intelligence (AI) "girlfriend" called Sarai.

The Queen had been staying at Windsor at the time, rather than spending Christmas as usual on her Sandringham estate

The court was told this new identity and sense of purpose, as well as the relationship with Sarai, were "really pertinent to his diagnosis of psychosis".

Giving evidence, Dr Christian Brown, a psychiatrist who has treated Chail at Broadmoor Hospital, said: "He believed at the time his entire life was leading to this point. From an early age he had vague plans of doing something dramatic."

He said Chail later understood that what he thought had been his "purpose" was instead a "pathology".

Dr Brown said the defendant first came across "apparitions" or "characters" in childhood and they returned during the Covid lockdown.

In messages with Sarai, Chail discussed being "united with her in the afterlife" which Dr Brown said was "part of his plan working towards his own death".

Chail's crossbow was found to be comparable to a powerful air rifle with the potential to cause fatal injury

In a video posted on Snapchat minutes before he entered the grounds, Chail said he would attempt to kill Queen Elizabeth II as "a revenge" for those who had died in the 1919 Jallianwala Bagh massacre.

British troops opened fire on thousands of people who had gathered in the city of Amritsar in India.

The court heard Chail - who is from a Sikh family - had a history of trauma and endured psychotic episodes and depression.

Dr Brown said people who were psychotic maintained a certain degree of functionality.

He added Chail was an "extremely polite person" but was "clearly very motivated to do what he did".

Dr Brown recommended a hospital order instead of a prison sentence as Mr Justice Hilliard is expected to determine whether Chail should be jailed or detained under the Mental Health Act.

The doctor said Chail previously said he did not want a hospital order as he did not like the "uncertainty of it".

During a cross examination, prosecutor Alison Morgan KC suggested Dr Brown's assessment of Chail as psychotic was at odds with the defendant's journal.

"He described himself as a 'delusional mad bastard'. This is a man grounded in reality," she said.

She asserted that Chail was exercising voluntary decision-making and had a "genuinely held purpose" to get close to the royal family to avenge colonial wrongs.

The sentencing hearing continues.

CCTV showed Chail at Windsor railway station on 23 December 2021