Treason charge in Windsor Castle crossbow case
A man arrested with a crossbow at Queen Elizabeth's Windsor Castle home on Christmas Day last year has been charged with having a weapon with intent to "alarm her Majesty" under Britain's Treason Act, police and prosecutors said on Tuesday. Jaswant Singh Chail, 20, from Southampton in southern England, had been arrested on December 25 while carrying a crossbow in the grounds of the castle to the west of London where the 96-year-old monarch mostly resides, prosecutors said. Following an investigation by counter-terrorism police, he was charged with making threats to kill, possession of an offensive weapon and an offence under section 2 of the Treason Act 1842. This section details punishment for "discharging or aiming fire-arms, or throwing or using any offensive matter or weapon, with intent to injure or alarm her Majesty". Chail will appear at London's Westminster Magistrates' Court on August 17. "The Crown Prosecution Service reminds all concerned that criminal proceedings against Mr Chail are active and that he has the right to a fair trial," Nick Price, Head of the CPS Special Crime and Counter Terrorism Division, said. The queen was at the castle at the time of the incident along with her son and heir Prince Charles, his wife Camilla and other close family. Police said Chail had not broken into any buildings. (Reuters)