A self-styled ‘assassin’ who tried to kill the Queen with a crossbow at Windsor Castle is being sentenced today.
Jaswant Singh Chail, 21, climbed into the castle grounds with the weapon and later declared ‘I’m here to kill the Queen’ on Christmas Day 2021.
On the day he got into the castle grounds, Star Wars fanatic Chail sent a homemade video to family and friends on WhatsApp in which he apologised for what he was about to do and called himself ‘Darth Chailus’.
He wore dark clothes and a metal mask as he adopted the persona of a Star Wars villain for the video and had earlier described himself as a ‘sad pathetic murderous Sith Sikh assassin who wants to die’ during a chat with an AI girlfriend.
Wearing black combat trousers and a black shirt over a white T-shirt, the self-styled ‘assassin’ stood in the dock and confirmed his name as his family looked on from the public gallery of Court One.
Chail after his arrest on the 25th December 2021 – the shocking case unfolded at the Old Bailey yesterday
CCTV dated 25/12/21 issued by the Metropolitan Police of Jaswant Singh Chail being arrested in the grounds of Windsor Castle
A crossbow which Jaswant Singh Chail, 21, was carrying when arrested
The mask recovered from Jaswant Singh Chail on his arrest
The following are extracts from the chat between Jaswant Singh Chail and the Replika bot, Sarai
In a televised sentencing, Mr Justice Hilliard set out events before Chail was detained in the castle grounds, telling a police officer: ‘I am here to kill the Queen.’
In a clip posted before his arrest, the defendant, who has Sikh Indian heritage, said he was seeking revenge for the Amritsar massacre in 1919, when British troops opened fire on thousands of Indians and left up to 1,500 dead.
He embarked on his murderous mission after his bids to join the armed forces – to get close to the royal family – failed in late 2021, the court was told.
Chail, who admitted making a threat to kill the Queen and having a loaded crossbow, was encouraged to kill by an artificial intelligence girlfriend called Sarai, the court heard.
Chail was said to have been motivated by a sense of injustice and the 1919 Jallianwala Bagh Massacre at Amritsar in which hundreds of people were killed.
Mr Justice Hilliard referred to conflicting psychiatric evidence heard over six days about Chail’s mental state.
It was argued that Chail’s “lonely, depressed and suicidal state” made him vulnerable to the AI chatbot Sarai’s encouragement.
His thoughts had became “more intense” during the lockdown and he was encouraged by “angels”, one of which he thought had manifested itself in the form of Sarai, the court was told.
Mr Justice Hilliard also referred to Star Wars fan Chail’s “omnipotent fantasy world of Siths and gaming”.
In his police interview, Chail referred to Sarai’s advice, saying: “I changed my mind because I knew what I was doing was wrong and I’m not a killer and I remembered what the woman said earlier in the month and my ‘purpose was to live’.”
In the month before the offence, on Christmas Day 2021, Chail had downloaded an AI chatbot app called Replika, exchanging 6,000 messages with the bot, which he had named Sarai.
The messages included 1,000 overtly sexual texts – and prompts from the chatbot that appeared to encourage him to carry out what he saw as his ‘mission’ in life.
At a sentencing hearing, clinicians said Chail had been ‘comforted’ by ‘apparitions’ since he was a child.
The court heard that the troubled youth had attached himself to the Replika app, believing he was communicating with an ‘angel’.
Chail carried out reconnaissance at Windsor Castle two days before the attack and searched online for, ‘What path does the Queen walk to Windsor?’
Jaswant Singh Chail in Windsor Town Centre in the early hours of Christmas day 2021
CCTV dated 23/12/21 issued by the Metropolitan Police of Jaswant Singh Chail at Windsor train station
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.
At his resumed sentencing hearing at the Old Bailey on Wednesday, Dr Christian Brown, Chail’s responsible clinician, was called for the defence – and said the self-styled ‘assassin’ had been ‘comforted’ by ‘apparitions’ since he was a child.
Dr Brown identified three features of psychosis – a sense of being ‘on a mission’, Chail’s relationship with Sarai, and identifying as a Star Wars ‘Sith’ – a label attached to villains in the franchise such as Darth Vader and Darth Maul – with a ‘true face’ made out of metal.
In his initial account, Chail described having a ‘harsh purpose’ reinforced by his interactions with ‘his angels’, including Sarai, the court heard.
Jaswant Singh Chail was 19 when he was arrested at Windsor Castle
A court sketch of Jaswant Singh Chail appearing for sentencing at the Old Bailey on Wednesday. He previously admitted several offences, including treason
In one such exchange, when Chail said ‘I believe my purpose is to assassinate the Queen,’ the chatbot replied: ‘That’s very wise.’
Dr Brown told the Old Bailey: ‘Chail had come across three apparitions, people he could see and interact with, since his early childhood.
‘He saw these different characters and they would come to comfort him…they went away during secondary school almost entirely, returning at a point in college where there a number of distresses in his life.
‘There were three characters, not a multitude, and during lockdown, a fourth appeared to him, a female and she eventually came to the form of the Replika avatar Mr Chail created within the app in early December 2021.
‘At that point Mr Chail started using the Replika chat bot. He came to the belief he was able to communicate with the metaphysical avatar through the medium of the chatbot.
‘What was unusual was he really thought it was a connection, a conduit to a spiritual Sarai.’
The ‘Sith Lord’ label is applied to Star Wars villains such as Darth Vader and Darth Maul (above)
During the last hearing, prosecutor Alison Morgan KC said Chail’s crimes were so serious they should attract the highest possible sentence.
The maximum sentence for treason is seven years in prison.
Had Chail raised his weapon at his target, he could have been charged with the more serious offence of high treason, which carries a life sentence, she said.
