Andy Apsted (1978-2018) was a British Army veteran and anti-war activist who was responsible for a failed assassination attempt on Home Secretary Julia Montague from the Pascoe House in London in 2018. Apsted killed her chauffeur Terence Foyer with his PSL sniper rifle, but he was unable to pierce her car's bulletproof armor, and he shot himself when confronted by her personal protective officer David Budd, his former Army comrade.
Biography[]
Apsted at Pascoe House
Andy Apsted was born in London, England, and he joined the British Army during the Afghanistan War and served alongside David Budd in the Helmand Province campaign. During his service in Afghanistan, Apsted was scarred in the face by an IED explosion. Apsted returned home deformed and alienated, and he became the leader of the anti-war Veterans' Peace Group, which opposed Britain's military involvement in the War on Terror. In 2018, Apsted reunited with Budd after Budd listened in on one of Apsted's seminars, and Apsted was disgusted to hear that Budd was working as a police bodyguard for Home Secretary Julia Montague, a staunch supporter of the War on Terror. The two occasionally met and caught up, and Apsted gradually became more angry at Montague, eventually suggesting that someone had to give her a taste of the same misfortune which he, his comrades, and the four policemen killed in the Heath Bank Primary School bombing had been made to suffer by the political class.
Apsted's body
Apsted ultimately decided to assassinate Montague ahead of the vote on her controversial RIPA-18 bill, learning her itinerary ahead of time and deciding to ambush her car at Thornton Circus. Apsted obtained a PSL sniper rifle and rented a car while using the pseudonym "Adrian Smith", and he entered the Pascoe House the night before and deposited his rifle on the roof. He returned the next day and checked into the building under the pretense of being a tradesman, making his way to the roof. He ambushed Montague's car as it rounded Thornton Circus, killing her chauffeur Terence Foyer, but proving unable to shoot through the bulletproof armor and harm Montague. Budd called in police reinforcements before entering the Pascoe House and making his way to the roof, where he ambushed and confronted Apsted, whom he was surprised to see was the sniper. Apsted refused to surrender, and he said that the incident would be the end of him, but not for Budd. Apsted then said that someone had to stop Montague, and he proceeded to pull out his handgun and shoot himself. His identity was later discovered after his rental car was seized by police for overstaying the meter, enabling the police to ultimately discover his identity and investigate his former associate Budd.