A former employee of UK intelligence who was found guilty of attempted murder of a US government employee has been given a life sentence. Joshua Bowles committed the attack on 9 March in a leisure centre car park situated approximately three miles away from the base of GCHQ. As well as his guilty plea for attempted murder, he also pleaded guilty to causing actual bodily harm to a second person. The 29-year-old has received a minimum jail term of 13 years at the Old Bailey.
Bowles was discussed to have punched and stabbed the woman multiple times using two knives. He claimed that he aimed at her because he could not manage the “murky waters of ethics.” He also recounted being unable to handle the “power the American NSA has and the things they do.” The court also found out that he had planned the attack and researched topics online, including Theodore Kaczynski, an American domestic terrorist, attacks on women, and white supremacy.
Residents of Bowles’ neighbourhood in Cheltenham disclosed a “growing sense of dread” in the weeks leading up to the attack on Jenkins. A search of his house discovered a cache of weapons, hate-filled material and intelligence software. Bowles was also said to have been evicted from the Reddings for failing to pay rent and had a ban from entering the town centre enforced in 2019.
The prosecution described Bowles as a “lone wolf,” seeming to have believed one person could oppose the authority of the US government. As a GCHQ computer developer, Bowles had held high-level security clearance. However, he left in 2016, Training to train as an electrician
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