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NZ covered up botched attempt to kill Queen Elizabeth, reveals spy agency

March 02, 2018 08:53·
Queen assassination attempt revealed by intelligence docs

Queen assassination attempt revealed by intelligence docs

While the queen was touring the city of Dunedin on New Zealand's south island on October 14, 1981, a mentally disturbed teenager named Christopher Lewis fired a single shot toward the her as she exited her motorcade at the Otago Museum, according to papers from the New Zealand Security Intelligence Service (NZSIS). Police and members of the public heard "what they took to be a shot", according to the declassified documents obtained by news website Stuff.

The New Zealand Herald said authorities were anxious it might jeopardise future royal visits.

The documents say police found a.22-calibre rifle with a discharged cartridge on the fifth floor of a building after Lewis told them it was there. "NZ Police will share the outcome of this examination once it has been completed".

New Zealand police have said they will investigate Lewis's case file given the interest in the "historic matter", the New Zealand Herald reported.

A memo in 1981 from the New Zealand Security Intelligence Service hinted that the situation was being dealt with quietly, it read: "Current police investigations into the shots have been conducted discreetly and most media representatives probably have the impression that the noise was caused by a firework of some description".

More than a decade after the failed assassination attempt, Lewis was charged with the murder of an Auckland mother and the abduction of her baby daughter.

The Queen's role as head of the Commonwealth has made her a high-profile target for extremist groups and the mentally unwell over the years.

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A New Zealand police spokeswoman told Reuters on Thursday that the police commissioner had ordered the case file of the assassination attempt to be examined.

The 17-year-old was never charged with attempted murder or with treason, according to the news investigation.

Lewis, who at 17 already had a long criminal record, was arrested a week later in connection with an armed robbery, along with two accomplices, and quickly connected to a rifle recovered from the Adams Building.

At the time, the incident was played down by New Zealand police, who reportedly told local and global media the apparent sound of a gunshot was a council sign falling over.

Lewis electrocuted himself while in the slammer at age 33 in 1997 awaiting the murder trial, according to news reports at the time.

The documents say the angle of fire and range would have made it hard for Lewis to shoot the monarch, and that buildings would have screened her for all but a few seconds.

Christopher, who lived with mental health issues, died by suicide in 1997 while imprisoned for a series of offenses.

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