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London palace guard attacks student

Posted on: Friday, 23 January 2009, 15:52 CST

A Colombian tourist said a guard at London's St. James's Palace attacked him for mimicking his marching style.

Nick Ibarra, 23, who is studying at England's Oxford University, said the guard turned to him after noticing the student matching his marching steps, The Daily Mail reported Friday.

I felt this huge hand on my collar and managed to avoid a boot up the backside but he was growling-like a bear, Ibarra said. I was worried because he had a bayonet on his gun and didn't want that going somewhere painful. He pushed me away with the gun and I just ran for it.

The incident was caught on tape by Suzanne Cadosch, a friend of Ibarra.

You often see people pulling faces at the guards and marching along with them but obviously this soldier didn't find it funny, she said. In hindsight I can understand the soldier losing his cool but it was very frightening.

A colleague of a guard, a member of the 1st Battalion of the Scots Guards of the Guards Division, said the sentry will be in hot water for losing his cool when he should have ignored it.

The guard is not supposed to leave his post except in cases involving a threat to a member of the royal family.

A Ministry of Defense spokesman said officials will attempt to identify the guard and speak to him about his behavior.

Source: United Press International

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