Irish teenager charged with threatening to ASSASSINATE the president of Guyana after booze-fuelled row with leader's bodyguards
- Cillian Crossman, 17, allegedly told the men he would shoot the president
- Defence lawyer says youth made the threat while very drunk
- The incident happened on Sunday at a rodeo in Guyana's remote south
- Crossman was released on bail equivalent to about £200
- He faces a £650 fine if found guilty of the minor offence
By Damien Gayle
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An Irish teenager has been charged with threatening to assassinate the president of Guyana in what his lawyer said was an alcohol-fuelled row with two of the leader's bodyguards.
Cillian Crossan, a 17-year-old volunteer with an aid group in the South American country, allegedly told the men he would shoot and kill president Donald Ramotar.
His defence lawyer, Glenn Hanoman, said the youth made the threat because he didn't really believe the pair were actually bodyguards.
'Assassination threat': Two bodyguards of Guyanese president Donald Ramotar, left, raised the alarm after 17-year-old Irish aid group volunteer Cillian Crossan drunkenly told them he would shoot and kill the leader
'He had been drinking beer since early the morning and had even mixed rum and beer and had them at the same time,' said Mr Hanoman.
'I think that was the main factor at play when he argued with two of the guards.'
Guyana, a member state of the Commonwealth of Nations, is the only South American nation whose official language is English and also the only Caribbean country that is not an island.
The incident happened on Sunday at a rodeo in the rugged and remote Rupununi region, which is along the country's southern border with Brazil.
Crossan, from Lambtown, Ardlee, pleaded not guilty to the charge before a local magistrate and was released on the equivalent of about £200 bail over the objections of prosecutor Vishnu Hunte.
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