Written by Kamal Preet Kaur Twenty-one-year-old Jaswant Singh Chail, who had gained entry to the grounds of Windsor Castle armed with a crossbow on Christmas Day in 2021 to “kill the Queen”, has admitted to an offence under the Treason Act, following an investigation by the Met’s Counter Terrorism Command. Chail appeared at Old Bailey on Friday through a video link from Broadmoor Hospital in Berkshire, the oldest of the three high-security psychiatric hospitals in England. Chail pleaded guilty to an offence under section 2 of the Treason Act, 1842; threats to kill (contrary to section 16 of the Offences Against the Person Act 1861); and possession of an offensive weapon (contrary to section 1 of the Prevention of Crime Act 1953). He is due to be sentenced at the same court on Friday, 31st March. This be noted that in a video posted on Snapchat minutes before his arrest, Chail had said that he had wanted to kill the Queen and that, "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." He had also said, "I'm an Indian Sikh, a Sikh. My name was Jaswant Singh Chail, my name is Darth Jones." Commander Richard Smith, who leads the Met’s Counter Terrorism Command, said, "This was an extremely serious incident, but one which the patrolling officers who apprehended Chail managed with great composure and professionalism. They showed tremendous bravery to confront a masked man who was armed with a loaded crossbow, and then detain him without anyone coming to harm. According to the information provided by the Met Police, “Two officers saw Chail within the grounds of Windsor Castle at around 08:10hrs on 25 December 2021 and one approached him. He was wearing black clothing and a metal mask and said to the officers he was there to kill Her late Majesty Queen Elizabeth II, who was on the Castle’s grounds at the time. Chail was carrying a crossbow loaded with a bolt, and the officer drew their Taser. He was arrested. The Met’s Counter Terrorism Command took primacy for the investigation due to the nature of the incident. Detectives trawled through CCTV and made other enquiries, and found that Chail had travelled to Windsor on 23 December 2021. He had made a video of himself stating his desire to harm the late Queen, which he sent to a group of contacts shortly before he was arrested. Young Innovator award for Harrow woman With air pollution remaining one of the most talked about socio-political issues in London, a young woman from Harrow has won the Young Innovators Award 2022/23 for developing a mobile app that helps Londoners work out tube routes according to air quality. Talking to The Indian Express about CAIR London, the award-winning digital project, Tanya Beri says, “As a born and raised Londoner, the London Underground has been a key method of transport throughout my life. Whilst it’s without a doubt one of the best transportation systems in the world, I discovered that using it was exposing us to PM2.5 (air pollution), up to 7x above the World health organisation's recommended safe limit. “During my masters in User Experience design at Loughborough University, I went on to research air pollution issues in the UK and was shocked to discover how polluted the London Underground was. The tube is the most environmentally-friendly and cost-efficient way to travel around the city, however it’s not safe for the people using it. CAIR London is raising awareness on the tube’s current air pollution problem, and through a mobile app, generating lower polluted routes for users to travel so that they can have a safer journey and healthier experience. I know that there are Londoners out there with conditions such as asthma, who should be aware of the problem, and have a choice in how they travel so it has less of an impact on their health.” Beri says she was thrilled to be selected as one of the winners of the award by UK Research and Innovation (UKRI), a non-departmental public body sponsored by the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) that brings together research and innovation organisations, Research England and Innovate UK. The award includes a grant of £5k and other set-up support as needed. “It’s a tremendous achievement, and I’m very proud to have my idea be validated by such a prestigious award,” she says, adding, “It’s taken her over two years of research on people’s understanding of the problem on the London Underground and their current attitude towards air pollution. Initially in 2020, very few people were aware of the issue or cared enough about it to switch their existing routes - however this has changed dramatically since the pandemic. A key barrier we face is that there hasn’t been much awareness on how polluted the London Underground is, so we’ve been focusing on bringing light to the problem ready to provide a solution.” With the support of the young innovators award, Beri is confident “we can define a minimal viable product and make significant progress in launching a mobile app by the end of 2023”. She would also love to tackle other cities with the same problem - New York is currently the most polluted transportation system in the world, Stockholm is third after London. As a mixed-race child with an English mother, Beri’s connection to India comes from her father who was born in Delhi. “I was brought up with a strong Indian influence which came from not only my father but also from my grandmother. I first travelled to India with them when I was 10, and it instantly felt like a home away from home. It inspired me to learn to read and write Punjabi (though not well). I was the only female tabla player in the local area growing up and I even support India in cricket! Yep, even when they’re playing England,” exclaims Beri. She would like more Indians to use public transport specially in metros to help tackle air pollution. Community champion gets MBE Bedford-resident and Seva Trust UK founder and chairman Charan Kanwal Singh Sekhon has been conferred with an MBE for his services to charity, diversity, environment and Covid-19 support work. His Majesty King Charles III bestowed the civilian honour upon Sekhon at an investiture ceremony held at Windsor Castle recently. Sekhon is well-recognised within the Indian and Punjabi community in the UK for his community initiatives in the field of education, health and wellbeing, inter-faith as well as protecting the environment. Besides his charity work, Sekhon is also an Equalities and Welfare Coordinator for UNISON, a Parish Councilor in Sharnbrook, a former executive committee member of the Guru Gobind Singh Gurdwara and Bedford Race Equality Council. Talking to The Indian Express, Charan said, “Thanks to this very special recognition, I will always be motivated to do more and better for society. I will try my best to continue to make a real difference to the lives of others, to help protect and save the environment, promote diversity and equality for all and better support the vulnerable of all communities through SEVA Trust UK.” Sekhon has numerous other awards and recognitions to his credit, including those from The Sikh Missionary Society, UK; Patanjali Yog Peeth Trust, UK; Bedford Borough Council, Papwoth Trust, Cambridge, and Bedfordshire Asian Business Association (BABA). He, along with Amritsar Vikas Manch, has lobbied hard with the aviation industry, Civil Aviation Authority of India and independent airlines to get direct flights from London and Birmingham to Amritsar. (Kamal Preet Kaur is a London-based writer)
