Windsor Castle crossbow suspect's father says 'something has gone horribly wrong' with his son

The father of a teenager suspected of breaking into the grounds of Windsor Castle on Christmas Day carrying a crossbow said “something has gone horribly wrong” with his son.

Jaswant Singh Chail, 19, apparently shared a video in which he threatened to “assassinate the Queen” just minutes before he was arrested at her Berkshire residence. He was sectioned under the Mental Health Act on Boxing Day.

Police are investigating the footage, which shows a masked man holding a black crossbow and threatening to kill the Queen in revenge for the Amritsar massacre in 1919.

The video was uploaded to Snapchat at 8.06am on Christmas Day, 24 minutes before a man was apprehended by Windsor security after scaling a fence with a rope ladder. Members of the Royal Family including the Queen are thought to have been inside the castle at the time. The suspect was the fifth person to have breached security at Windsor in the past nine months.

His father, Jasbir Singh Chail, said: “Something's gone horribly wrong with our son and we are trying to figure out what.

“We've not had a chance to speak to him but are trying to get him the help he needs. From our perspective, we are going through a difficult time. We are trying to resolve this issue and it's not easy.”

In the video, a man wearing a dark hoodie and mask makes threats using a distorted voice. He makes repeated references to Star Wars and appears to give his name as “Darth Jones”.

He says: “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. 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.”

The Sith are villains in the Star Wars movies, while a character on the wall behind the suspect is thought to be Darth Malgus, an obscure character from fiction written around the Star Wars films. The Jallianwala Bagh massacre, also known as the Massacre of Amritsar, took place on April 19, 1919. British troops opened fire on a large crowd of unarmed Indians in the Punjab region of India, which was then under British colonial rule, killing hundreds and causing over a thousand casualties. Pictures posted on social media appear to show members of the suspect’s family visiting Amritsar in 2018.

His parents are the registered directors of an IT firm and live with the teenager and his twin sister in a house on a private estate in the village of North Baddesley, near Southampton.

One resident said the "lovely family" were "perfect neighbours", adding that they saw Jaswant only to say hello to as he walked to college.

Police yesterday remained at the teenager's home, where he lives with his parents and twin sister. The detached property is on a small estate where house prices can reach £500,000.

Neighbours said they visited the property on Boxing Day afternoon.

The suspect, who the police have not formally named, was arrested with the weapon after apparently using a rope ladder to scale a metal fence to enter the gardens at the Queen’s Berkshire residence.

It is understood he was spotted on CCTV “within moments”, triggering a team of armed response officers to arrest him just hours before the Queen was due to celebrate Christmas with her family. According to a source, once he had gained access to the royal estate, the teenager 'didn't know what to do with himself' and was quickly detained.

About an hour after the Christmas Day arrest, the Queen welcomed Prince Charles and Camilla to the castle. The Earl and Countess of Wessex along with their children, Lady Louise, 18, and Viscount Severn, 14, also attended a Christmas Matins service at Windsor Castle. The Duke and Duchess of Gloucester also visited the castle for the service at the private chapel.

The Queen, 95, was having Christmas at Windsor instead of Sandringham due to concerns over the spread of the new Covid variant.

The security breach is likely to lead to a review by police to establish what lessons can be learned from the incident.

Two weeks ago, a woman was arrested after she ran up to Prince Andrew’s car and banged on the window. The security breach happened as the Duke of York drove into the Windsor estate.

In April, a 44-year-old woman who claimed to be engaged to Prince Andrew was let into his official Windsor residence by security guards.

The smartly-dressed Spanish woman was said to have wandered around the grounds of his Grade II listed Royal Lodge in Great Windsor Park. She has since been sectioned under the 1984 Mental Health Act.

A review was also carried out in 2003 after self-styled comedy terrorist Aaron Barschak broke in during Prince William's 21st birthday party.

Scotland Yard has confirmed detectives were "assessing the contents of a video" following the arrest of a 19-year-old man from Southampton.

Buckingham Palace declined to comment.