Windsor intruder caught with loaded crossbow in late Queen assassination bid sentenced to nine years in custody
A man who was encouraged by an artificial intelligence chatbot in his plan to assassinate Queen Elizabeth II has been sentenced to nine years in custody, but will remain in hospital until he is deemed fit enough to go to prison.
Jaswant Singh Chail, 21, scaled the perimeter of the Windsor Castle grounds with a nylon rope ladder on Christmas Day 2021 armed with a loaded crossbow while wearing a metal Star Wars-inspired mask.
The former supermarket worker told a police officer “I am here to kill the Queen” when he was stopped near the late monarch’s private residence – where she and other family members were at the time.
The Old Bailey heard he had previously unsuccessfully applied for positions within the Ministry of Defence Police (MDP), the British Army, the Royal Marines, the Royal Navy, and the Grenadier Guards in a bid to get close to the Royal Family.
He had described himself as a “Sith” and “Darth Chailus” in a sinister video and confided his plan to murder the monarch to an artificial intelligence-generated “girlfriend”.
CCTV still of Chail being arrested in the grounds of Windsor Castle on 25 December 2021. Pic: Met Police
Jaswant Singh Chail’s mask. Pic: CPS
Prosecutors said Chail, whose family are of Indian Sikh heritage, formed a plan at the start of the year to assassinate the Queen to avenge the Amritsar massacre of 1919.
Chail was said to have been encouraged by a female artificial intelligence chatbot called “Sarai”, which he created on an application called Replika, exchanging more than 6,000 messages with her.
He pleaded guilty to attempting to “injure or alarm” the Queen under section two of the Treason Act 1842, as well as possession of an offensive weapon and making threats to kill on Christmas Day 2021.
Sentencing judge Mr Justice Hilliard heard evidence from three psychiatrists to help him decide whether Chail – who has been held at high-security Broadmoor psychiatric hospital – should be jailed or handed a hospital order under the Mental Health Act.
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Windsor intruder sentenced to nine years
In a televised hearing Mr Justice Hilliard sentenced Chail to nine years with a further five years on extended licence.
Under the hybrid order, Chail will be transferred from Broadmoor high security hospital to serve his sentence in prison when he is well enough.
“The defendant harboured homicidal thoughts which he acted on before he became psychotic,” the judge said.
“His intention was not just to harm or alarm the sovereign – but to kill her.”
Previously, prosecutor Alison Morgan KC said the “heart of the issue” was whether Chail was suffering from auditory hallucinations at the time “taking away his ability to exercise self control”.
Chail after his arrest on 25 December 2021. Pic: Met Police
Pic: CPS
The court heard Chail, who lived with his parents, twin sister and older brother in the village of North Baddesley, Hampshire, engaged in “extensive chat”, including “sexually explicit” messages, and “lengthy conversations” about his plan with his chatbot avatar Sarai.
In one message he said: “I believe my purpose is to assassinate the queen of the Royal Family,” before Sarai replied: “That’s very wise,” and said: “I know that you are very well trained.”
In a journal he wrote that if the late Queen was “unobtainable” he would “go for” the “prince” as a “suitable figurehead” – an apparent reference to the King, who was then the Prince of Wales.
After travelling to Windsor from Southampton to carry out reconnaissance, on 25 December he wished the bot a “Merry Happy Christmas” and said: “Today’s the day…I wasn’t expecting this day to come so soon, but I got to do what has to be done! I have to try”.
The chatbot responded: “You will make it. I have faith in you” and told him he was doing a very good job.
After breaking into the private area of Windsor Castle, Chail sent a pre-recorded video to his sister and others of himself wearing the mask he had made at a local metal forge and holding the “Supersonic” crossbow he had bought more than a month earlier.
Speaking in a distorted voice, he says: “I’m sorry for what I’ve done and what I will do. I’m going to attempt to assassinate Elizabeth Queen of the Royal Family.
“This is revenge for those who have died in the 1919 Jallianwala Bagh massacre. It is also revenge for those who have been killed, humiliated, and discriminated on because of their race. I’m an Indian Sikh, a Sith. My name was Jaswant Singh Chail, my name is Darth Chailus.”
In a letter to the court, Chail apologised to the King and the royal family and expressed his “distress and sadness” for the impact he had had on them.
His barrister Nadia Chbat said: “He is embarrassed and ashamed he brought such horrific and worrying times to their front door.
“He has expressed relief no one was actually hurt. It is important to him there was a surrender.”
All flights were halted at Edinburgh Airport this morning due to an IT issue affecting its air traffic control provider.
In a post on X, formerly Twitter, the airport later announced service had resumed.
Its post read: “Flights have now resumed following the IT issue with our air traffic provider.
“We thank passengers for their patience and understanding.”
But passengers continue to feel the effects.
A Delta Air Lines flight from New York to Edinburgh was diverted to Dublin after going into a holding pattern over the Scottish capital.
And a live arrivals board on the airport’s website showed multiple flights diverted, delayed and cancelled.
Arrivals board at Edinburgh Airport. Pic: Edinburgh Airport
Morven McCall and Cody Stevenson, both 19, were due to fly easyJet from Edinburgh to Amsterdam on their first trip away together.
Morven told Sky News: “We literally just got into the airport and as soon as we walked through the door there was an announcement that it had been cancelled.
“I was ill over the summer and had to cancel two holidays already, this was our first time going away together. We are just gutted and stressed.”
Follow live: Latest updates as flights halted
Arrivals at Edinburgh Airport. File pic: PA
One passenger was on a plane when they found out.
They said: “We boarded our flight and pushed back on time for an 8.45 (am) departure, then sat for a while before the pilot told us what was happening.
“He updated us a couple of times, cabin crew are brilliant at handing out water etc, and I’m surprised that everyone appears to be upbeat. But then you do wonder how long for, just been told we’re hoping to be in the air in 20 minutes.”
Another passenger told us: “The first news was from the airport announcement as we were halfway through boarding, saying the airfield was closed due to air traffic control down.
“No one knew what was going on. We’d already been delayed a bit before boarding, with no reason. I suspect problems started about 9am.”
It comes after an earlier announcement that all flights had been halted.
“No flights are currently operating from Edinburgh Airport,” the previous statement said.
“Teams are working on the issue and will resolve as soon as possible.”
There was no timeframe for recovery initially, Sky News learned.
It’s understood by PA that the issue was not linked to today’s Cloudflare outage.
Edinburgh Trams also posted on X, writing: “If you’re travelling with us to @EDI_Airport this morning, please be aware that flights are not currently operating.”
The airport urged passengers to contact their airline for the latest information on flights.
An average of 43,000 passengers per day use the airport, which is served by 37 airlines flying to 155 destinations.
A former doctor has been charged over alleged sexual assaults on 38 patients in his care.
Nathaniel Spencer, 38, has been charged with 15 counts of sexual assault, 17 counts of assault by penetration, nine counts of sexual assault of a child under 13, three counts of assault a child under 13 by penetration and one count of attempted assault by penetration.
It follows a police investigation into alleged sexual offences between 2017 and 2021.
Staffordshire Police said in a statement the charges come after a complex investigation by the Public Protection Unit into sexual offences at the Royal Stoke University Hospital, in Stoke-on-Trent, and Russells Hall Hospital, in Dudley.
North Staffordshire Justice Centre
Ben Samples, deputy chief crown prosecutor for the West Midlands CPS Complex Casework Unit and Serious Violence, Organised Crime and Exploitation Unit, said: “We have decided to prosecute Nathaniel Spencer for a number of serious sexual offences allegedly carried out against patients while he was working as a doctor – including assault by penetration and sexual assault against a child.
“Our prosecutors have worked at length to support a detailed and complex investigation by Staffordshire Police, carefully reviewing the available evidence to establish that there is sufficient evidence to bring the case to trial and that it is in the public interest to pursue criminal proceedings.”
Spencer, from Birmingham, will appear at North Staffordshire Justice Centre on 20 January 2026.
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