Law that shields monarch

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, alarm them or to cause a breach of peace.

The law was brought in after a series of bungled attacks on Queen Victoria.

However, the last person to be convicted under this section of the act was Marcus Sarjeant. He fired six blank shots at the Queen as she rode down The Mall during Trooping the Colour in 1981.

Sarjeant was jailed for five years in 1981. However, Jaswant Singh Chail may be held in a secure hospital rather than be sent to prison.