Court hears that former GCHQ employee allegedly stabbed a US security worker in Cheltenham

A former UK intelligence worker has admitted to attacking a US government employee in a brutal assault, referring to himself as a terrorist during his court hearing. Joshua Bowles, 29, stabbed the woman in a car park near GCHQ's base in Cheltenham on 9 March. He pleaded guilty to attempted murder and assaulting another person causing bodily harm. Bowles will be sentenced at the Old Bailey in London. The woman, identified as code number 99230, was targeted because of her role at the National Security Agency of the United States. The attack was described as "pre-meditated, targeted, and vicious." Despite the intention for it to be lethal, the victim managed to survive. In his police interview, Bowles expressed that he considered both the US and UK intelligence agencies as equally responsible.