Drunk Irish teen charged with threatening to kill Guyanan president - 17-year-old told bodyguards he'd like to shoot Donald Ramotar

An Irish teenager on a gap year in the small South American state of Guyana has been charged with threatening to kill the country's president.

Cillian Crosson, now seventeen years old, was a high-achieving student at his hometown of Dundalk, and has plead not guilty to the offense before a hearing of the local magistrate's court.

Prosecutors allege that the teen remarked that he would like to shoot incumbent president Donald Ramotar in the head, but lawyers for Mr Crosson have argued that the remarks were not intended seriously and were made in the course of a drunken conversation.

The Irish teen was drinking with two of the president's official bodyguards, but as they didn't carry any identification, Crosson doubted they were.

The unlucky Irish man had been drinking with the morning, according to local reports, and had even mixed rum and beer together at one stage.

The drunk defense hasn't gone down well with the Guyana court system or district prosecutor Vishnu Hunte, however: bailed for a sum of about $300, Crosson has to report to a local police station every Monday.

“The threat was directed to none other than the president of Guyana, his Excellency Donald Ramotar, by a foreign national,” Hunte said. “There is therefore a likelihood that he may flee the jurisdiction since he is not a resident of Guyana," the case's prosecutor told the media.

Fortunately for the Dundalk teen, the offence is classified as a misdemeanor in the South American state's legal system, meaning that the maximum fine which can be levied against the Irishman is approximately $1,000.

Crosson still faces a further court appearance this May, but his family say they are confident that the charge will be dropped.