UK man jailed 13 years for attempted murder of US woman based at British intelligence agency

Joshua Bowles, 29, repeatedly stabbed the unnamed woman, who was working at British intelligence agency GCHQ, in March near its base at Cheltenham in Western England.

Bowles had previously worked at GCHQ, but was no longer working there when he carried out the attack.

He told police after his arrest: “The target was selected for her employment at the NSA. Due to the size and resourcing, American intelligence represents the largest contributor within the intelligence community, so made sense as the symbolic target. I consider GCHQ just as guilty.”

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Bowles, who lived in Cheltenham, pleaded guilty in August to the attempted murder of the woman, known only as 99230. He also pleaded guilty to assaulting a man who tried to stop the attack.

Prosecutor Duncan Penny told London’s Old Bailey on Friday that Bowles had launched the attack outside a leisure centre in Cheltenham after researching two other US nationals who had also worked for the NSA at GCHQ.

In one of his police interviews, Bowles said: “The system is rigged. I believe the intelligence community helps ensure this rigging, this view has been reinforced by my time working at GCHQ.”

Penny also said Bowles described himself as a terrorist after the attack, saying to one witness: “I make a pretty shit terrorist, don’t I?”

Bowles’ lawyer Tim Forte argued Bowles carried out the attack as a result of his social isolation and depression, combined with his grievance against GCHQ.

“He is not a terrorist, this is not a terrorist act,” Forte said.

However, Judge Bobbie Cheema-Grubb said on Monday that Bowles had carried out a “politically-motivated attack” and sentenced Bowles to a minimum of 13 years in jail.