Trial date set for man accused of threatening to kill Queen with crossbow at Windsor Castle

Jaswant Singh Chail is charged under the Treason Act and with possessing an offensive weapon and making threats to kill

Court artist sketch by Elizabeth Cook of Jaswant Singh Chail, from Southampton, appearing via video link at Westminster Magistrates’ Court, in London, where he is charged under the Treason Act (Elizabeth Cook/PA) (PA Wire)

A man accused of threatening to kill the Queen with a crossbow is to go on trial in March.

Jaswant Singh Chail, 20, appeared at the Old Bailey via video-link for a hearing on Wednesday.

He was wearing a black hoodie and spoke only to confirm his identity.

The former Co-op worker is accused of three offences, including one under the Treason Act, after being detained in the grounds of Windsor Castle on Christmas Day.

The taking of pleas was adjourned for further evidence to be obtained and the defendant remains in custody.

The charges allege that Mr Chail, of Hampshire, made a threat to kill her late majesty the Queen on 25 December last year.

He is charged with carrying a loaded crossbow in the grounds of Windsor Castle “without lawful authority or reasonable excuse”.

Mr Chail is also charged, under section two of the Treason Act 1842, with “wilfully producing or having a loaded crossbow with intent to use the same to injure the person of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II, or to alarm her Majesty”.

Mr Justice Sweeney set a trial date on 20 March and a further hearing will take place in December, on a date to be confirmed.