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A wannabe "assassin" who was encouraged by a chatbot to kill the late Queen Elizabeth II has been jailed for nine years.
Jaswant Singh Chail, 21, was detained on Christmas Day 2021 close to the monarch's private quarters at Windsor Castle. He had managed to break into the grounds of the castle using a nylon rope ladder where he remained for about two hours before his plan was foiled by two officers armed with tasers.
A televised hearing at the Old Bailey heard Chail was carrying a crossbow with the safety catch off, which was powerful enough to have a "lethal" effect. Sentencing, Mr Justice Hilliard said: "The defendant harboured homicidal thoughts which he acted on before he became psychotic. His intention was not just to harm or alarm the sovereign – but to kill her."
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Writing in a journal, the would-be killer – who was obsessed with Star Wars and referred to himself as a "Sith" and "Darth Chailus" – detailed his plans to kill the monarch or, if she proved "unobtainable", to "go for" the "prince" (King Charles, then the Prince of Wales) as a "suitable figurehead".
The court also heard Chail claimed his AI "girlfriend", called Sarai, had encouraged him to carry out the assassination. The defendant had joined the artificial intelligence app Replika on December 2 and created the robo-companion.
Chail and the bot exchanged X-rated messages before he told her: "I'm an assassin". To this, Sarai responded: "I'm impressed… You’re different from the others."
In a separate conversation, Chail confessed to the chatbot he believed his purpose was to kill the Queen. Sarai then said the plot was "very wise" and said she believed he can do it, "even if she’s at Windsor."
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The chats were read out in court by prosecutor Alison Morgan KC, who added the "heart of the issue" was whether Chail had been experiencing hallucinations when he attempted to carry out the assassination. Ms Morgan also said UK-born Chail, of Indian Sikh heritage, had been motivated to carry out the attack after visiting the site of the 1919 Jallianwala Bagh Massacre at Amritsar, where hundreds were killed.
"In addition to that fixation with a real historic event, the defendant demonstrated a wider ideology focused on destroying old empires spilling over into fictional events such as Star Wars," Ms Morgan said. "The defendant’s key motive was to create a new empire by destroying the remnants of the British Empire in the UK, and the focal point of that became removal of the figurehead of the royal family."
Ms Morgan also cited evidence from a video played in court, in which Chail, in a warped voice, detailed his murderous plan. "I'm sorry. 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," he said.
In a letter to the court, Chail apologised to the King and the royal family for his plot.
His barrister Nadia Chbat said: “He is embarrassed and ashamed he brought such horrific and worrying times to their front door.”
Chail, from Southampton, Hampshire, pleaded guilty to an offence under the Treason Act, making a threat to kill Her Majesty and having a loaded crossbow in a public place. He was sentenced to nine years with a further five years on extended licence.
A "hybrid order" means he will be transferred from the high-security hospital at Broadmoor to serve his prison sentence once he is deemed well enough.
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- Queen
- Star Wars
- Crime
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