LONDON – A mentally disturbed teenager tried to assassinate Queen ElizabethII during a 1981 visit to New Zealand and police covered up the botchedattempt, according to official documents released on Thursday.

Christopher Lewis fired a single shot towards the Queen’s car as she touredthe South Island city of Dunedin, the documents from New Zealand’s SecurityIntelligence Service (SIS) spy agency revealed.

No one was hurt and police reportedly assured members of the royal partywho asked about a gunshot that they had simply heard a firework exploding.

Lewis, 17 at the time, was picked up soon after on an unrelated armedrobbery charge and made a rambling confession about his attempt on themonarch’s life.

While police said he was delusional and “lives in a dream world” they founda .22 rifle and spent cartridge in the building where he said the attempttook place.

He claimed to be a member of a right-wing organisation called the NationalImperial Guerilla Army, which police concluded had only three members.

Officers at the time decided against charging him with treason over theOctober 1981 assassination attempt but pursued firearms and robbery charges.

The SIS documents, released publicly in response to a media request, showpolice were concerned the incident would become public and conspired tokeep it secret.

The New Zealand Herald said authorities were worried it might jeopardisefuture royal visits to the former British colony.

“Lewis did indeed originally intend to assassinate the Queen,” thedocuments say.

“However (he) did not have a suitable vantage point from which to fire, nora sufficiently high-powered rifle for the range from the target.”

Lewis had a string of serious criminal convictions and was in jail formurder when he killed himself in 1997.

The Queen’s role as head of the Commonwealth has made her a high-profiletarget for extremist groups and the mentally unwell over the years.APP/AFP