First UK treason conviction in 43 years - How does it work in law and what are the punishments?

A man is being sentenced for treason today today, the first person to be convicted for the offence for more than 40 years.

Jaswant Chail was arrested in the grounds of Windsor Castle on Christmas Day 2021.

The 21-year-old, armed with a crossbow broke into the Royal residence, telling an armed officer he was there to kill the late Queen.

He was arrested and later pleaded guilty to making threats to kill, possession of an offensive weapon, and an offence under the 1842 Treason Act.

What is the Treason Act?

A person who commits treason is known in law as a traitor.

Under the 1842 Treason Act, it is an offence to assault the Sovereign or have a firearm or offensive weapon in their presence with intent to injure or alarm them or to cause a breach of peace.

The creation of this offence can be traced back to an incident on 29 May 1842, when Queen Victoria was riding in a carriage along The Mall.

A man called John Francis aimed a pistol at her but did not fire it. 

He did it again the next day and was arrested and convicted of high treason, receiving firstly the death penalty, which was then amended to a life sentence. 

Two days later, a similar attack took place by someone called John Bean, who fired a pistol at the Queen, but it was loaded only with paper and tobacco.

At that time, although no physical harm was caused, the offence was still punishable by death. 

Treason Law

Prince Albert encouraged Parliament to pass a law recognising lesser crimes against the monarch, such as intent to alarm, which would not attract the death penalty merely because they were labelled as ‘high treason’. 

Under this section of the Treason Act, in 1981, Marcus Sarjaent was sentenced to five years’ imprisonment after pleading guilty to firing blank shots at the Queen when she was on parade.  

The last person to be convicted under the separate and more serious 1351 Treason Act – commonly known as 'high treason' - was William Joyce, aka Lord Haw Haw, who collaborated with Germany during World War II. 

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