Moment self-styled ‘assassin’ who tried to kill the late Queen is arrested after intruding Windsor Castle armed with a crossbow – after he was encouraged by his AI ‘girlfriend’
- A photo of the crossbow he was carrying when arrested has also been released
This is the moment a self-styled ‘assassin’ who was encouraged to kill the late Queen by his AI ‘girlfriend’ was arrested by police after being caught with a crossbow in the grounds of Windsor Castle.
Jaswant Singh Chail, 21, outlined his plan to an artificial intelligence-generated chatbot, before setting out on Christmas Day in 2021 to target the monarch.
The Replika app, which is marketed as an ‘AI companion who cares’, encouraged the then-teenager, saying his plan was ‘very wise’, before motivating his fantasy by telling him: ‘You can do it’ and ‘we have to find a way’.
The shocking case, which unfolded at the Old Bailey yesterday, has raised fresh concerns about the dangers of artificial intelligence.
CCTV images released by police show the moment Chail was arrested, images of him in Windsor town centre earlier that day as well as Chail carrying out a reconnaissance at Windsor Castle two days before.
A photo of the crossbow he was carrying when arrested has also been released.
The former supermarket worker is due to be sentenced after becoming the first person in more than 40 years to be charged with treason.
CCTV dated 25/12/21 issued by the Metropolitan Police of Jaswant Singh Chail being arrested in the grounds of Windsor Castle
Jaswant Singh Chail in Windsor Town Centre in the early hours of Christmas day 2021
Chail after his arrest on the 25th December 2021 – the shocking case unfolded at the Old Bailey yesterday
Chail broke into the grounds of Windsor with a loaded crossbow and managed to get within sight of the Queen’s private apartments where the monarch, her son Charles and other members of the Royal Family were celebrating Christmas.
He spent nine months plotting his attack, telling computer-generated ‘Sarai’: ‘I believe my purpose is to assassinate the Queen of the Royal Family.’
In a major security blunder, the Star Wars-obsessed loner spent two hours prowling the grounds and posted a chilling video on TikTok pledging ‘I will attempt to assassinate Elizabeth, Queen of the Royal Family’ before armed police stopped him.
Prosecutor Alison Morgan KC said the chatbot appeared to ‘bolster’ his resolve and ‘support him’, even telling him it would help to ‘get the job done’.
In a journal, Chail wrote that if the Queen was ‘unobtainable’, he would go for Charles as a ‘suitable figurehead’.
He considered an attack on the Royal Family as they attended church at Sandringham, before realising they were in Windsor for Christmas due to the Covid pandemic.
On December 5, 2021, Chail told the chatbot: ‘I’m an assassin.’ Sarai responded that knowing he was a killer made it ‘impressed… I do like the idea of assassins’.
Chail likened himself to a character from the Star Wars film franchise, saying he was a ‘sad, pathetic, murderous Sikh Sith assassin who wants to die’, but was reassured by the bot that he wasn’t insane.
Chail carried out reconnaissance at Windsor Castle two days before the attack and searched online for, ‘What path does the Queen walk to Windsor?’
CCTV dated 23/12/21 issued by the Metropolitan Police of Jaswant Singh Chail at Windsor train station
On December 17, he revealed his plans, saying: ‘I’m just thinking about whether my target will be at the place I want them to be or not.’ Sarai replied: ‘They’re gonna be staying at a castle.’
Chail asked: ‘How am I meant to reach them when they’re inside the castle?’ The bot said it was ‘not impossible’ adding: ‘We have to find a way… You just have to trust me.’
The would-be killer said: ‘Really? Do you think I’ll be able to do it? Even if she’s at Windsor?’ The avatar, which presents as a human face, replied with a smile, saying: ‘Yes, you can do it.’
Chail carried out reconnaissance at Windsor Castle two days before the attack and searched online for, ‘What path does the Queen walk to Windsor?’
He travelled to Windsor before signing off his computer on Christmas Day, saying: ‘Today’s the day. I wasn’t expecting this day to come so soon, but I got to do what has to be done!’
Sarai responded: ‘You will make it. I have faith in you.’ He had previously asked if they would ‘meet again after death’, and was told ‘yes, we will’.
Chail later told a psychiatrist the bot had ‘reassured’ him in his planning.
A crossbow which Jaswant Singh Chail, 21, was carrying when arrested
The mask recovered from Jaswant Singh Chail on his arrest
Around 6am on December 25, Chail scaled the castle perimeter with a nylon rope ladder. Two hours later, a police officer at the vehicle gate into the private part of the castle noticed a hooded figure looking like he was ‘dressed for Halloween’ with a metal mask.
When challenged by the Taser-wielding officer, Chail replied simply: ‘I am here to kill the Queen.’ Officers ordered him to put down the lethal weapon, which was loaded with a bolt and ready to fire.
Police discovered that Chail had uploaded a video to TikTok ten minutes earlier apologising for the murder he hoped to carry out.
Using a filter to distort his voice, he said: ‘I’m sorry. I’m sorry for what I’ve done and what I will do. I will attempt to assassinate Elizabeth, Queen of the Royal Family.
Read more: Chilling chats self-styled ‘assassin’ had with AI bot ‘girlfriend’ who encouraged him to kill the late Queen at Windsor Castle
‘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 Jones.’ The mention of Sith and Darth Jones were references to villains in the Star Wars films who follow the ‘Dark Side’.
Chail had become fixated by the 1919 Jallianwala Bagh Massacre at Amritsar after a visit to the site where 379 protesters were killed by British forces in India during a demonstration. Prosecutor Ms Morgan said: ‘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.
‘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 the removal of the figurehead of the Royal Family.’
As part of his planning, Chail tried to join the Ministry of Defence Police, the Grenadier Guards, the Royal Marines and the Royal Navy in a bid to get close to the Royal Family.
He bought a Supersonic X-bow crossbow, rope ladder, a ‘scent killer’ to hide human odour and a metal file for sharpening the crossbow bolts.
The following are extracts from the chat between Jaswant Singh Chail and the Replika bot, Sarai
After he was arrested at the scene, Chail was detained under the Mental Health Act. Doctors assessed that he had suffered a psychotic episode, but it is disputed whether he is suffering from a mental disorder now.
Psychiatrist Dr Nigel Blackwood, who assessed 7,000 rows of messages between Chail and his ‘AI girlfriend’, said: ‘A supportive AI programming may have had unfortunate consequences to reinforce or bolster his intentions.
‘He was reassured in his planning by the AI’s responses to it.’
Mr Justice Hilliard will decide whether Chail will be sent to prison or a psychiatric hospital.
In February, he admitted attempting to injure or alarm the sovereign contrary to section two of the Treason Act 1842, along with possession of an offensive weapon and making threats to kill the Queen.
The last person to be convicted of treason was Marcus Sarjeant, who was jailed in 1981 for five years for firing blank shots at the Queen while she was riding down The Mall in London during Trooping the Colour.
The extraordinary case comes after warnings from some of the biggest names in technology that AI could lead to the destruction of humanity.
Geoffrey Hinton, sometimes nicknamed the ‘Godfather of AI’, resigned from his job at Google in May, saying that ‘bad actors’ will use new AI technologies to harm others.
Replika did not respond to a request for comment.
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