A former software developer at Britain’s signals intelligence agency GCHQ was on Monday jailed for life for attempted murder, after a knife attack on a US NSA employee.
Joshua Bowles, 29, armed himself with two knives and repeatedly stabbed and punched the woman outside a leisure centre in Cheltenham, western England, on March 9.
A central London court was told he targeted her because of the “power that the American NSA (National Security Agency) have and the things they do”.
Bowles, who lived in Cheltenham where GCHQ is based, planned the attack and beforehand researched subjects online, including American “Unabomber” Ted Kaczynski, who mounted a sporadic, anonymous bombing campaign from 1978 to 1995.
He also looked up attacks on women and white supremacy.
Joshua Bowles pleaded guilty at a previous hearing in August to the attempted murder of the woman, who was referred to in court by a code number, and assaulting a man who tried to intervene.
Judge Bobbie Cheema-Grubb called the attack “politically motivated” and said it was driven by “anger and resentment” towards GCHQ and women.
She recommended he serve a minimum term of 13 years in prison before being considered for release.
Prosecutor Duncan Penny described the attack in the reception area of a leisure centre where his victim had been playing netball as “pre-meditated, targeted and vicious”.
“Her selection as the target for this attack was entirely and solely associated with her role as a US government employee in the National Security Agency (NSA) of the United States,” he added.
The woman, who sustained cuts to her abdomen, chest and thigh, and a friend accompanying her fought back and managed to escape.
One witness said Joshua Bowles admitted to him as police were called that he had tried to kill her.
After his arrest, Joshua Bowles told police he targeted the woman because she worked for 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,” he said.
GCHQ, which handle signals intelligence, cybersecurity and code-breaking for the UK government was “just as guilty”, he added.
Joshua Bowles’ lawyer Tim Forte said his client was remorseful and ashamed of what he had done but denied it was inspired by terrorism.
Instead he said Joshua Bowles’ had been spurned in love by another American former colleague and wanted to hurt his former employer.
