From Tauranga District Court

A cut-down .22 pistol and ammunition wrapped in a balaclava were found in a car driven by Piki Paria Palmer after a passing police patrol spotted he was a disqualified driver.

Details of how he tried to avoid Rotorua police and later fled from the police station was outlined to the Tauranga District Court yesterday.

Judge Christopher Harding told Palmer the logical reason for having these items in the car was aggravated robbery.

He said Palmer had a significant history of prior offences and was at a high risk of reoffending.

Drug abuse included taking amphetamines.

Palmer was sentenced to 21 months imprisonment on charges of unlawfully possessing and carrying a firearm and driving while disqualified - his sixth offence.

He was also disqualified from driving for a further 13 months.

Lawyer Bill Nabney said Palmer had a rocky life in many ways.

The pistol was unloaded and there was no suggestion of gang involvement.

***

The driver of a car which collided into the rear of a parked car in Greerton and then sped off was sentenced to three months home detention and 60 hours' community work for drink driving.

In Tauranga District Court yesterday, Sarah Ellen Cookson's blood alcohol level of 246mg of alcohol per 100ml of blood was described as extremely high by Judge Christopher Harding.

It was her third drink drive conviction.

Cookson was disqualified from driving for 18 months for careless driving and fined $250 for refusing to accompany a police officer.

***

A man with a "considerable history of violence and alcohol abuse" was sentenced to three months jail for threatening to kill a police officer.

John Paul Te Huna was sentenced by Judge Christopher Harding in the Tauranga District Court yesterday.

The charge arose from an incident in which he was described as drunk and out of control.

Te Huna struggled, swore at an officer and then threatened to kill him.

Judge Harding ruled out home detention, saying he placed little credence on Te Huna saying he had a motivation to change.

Te Huna was sentenced to 14 days imprisonment, to be served concurrently with the three months, on the other charges of resisting police and assaulting police. He admitted the charges.

***

Supplying cannabis while on home detention resulted in a three month jail sentence for Kaahu Hiriam Grey of Te Puke.

He appeared for sentencing in the Tauranga District Court yesterday on two breaches of home detention conditions.

Grey also disappeared two weeks short of completing an earlier sentence of 16 weeks home detention imposed on May 3.

Judge Christopher Harding added a month's jail for this offence.

***

A Tauranga man described by his employer as "mature, skilled and productive" was sentenced to 100 hours community work and placed on supervision for 12 months after breaching a protection order and assaulting a child.

Andrew Mark Henderson had a verbal altercation with his ex-partner.

When the child crashed into him, it was against a hernia in Henderson's groin and he responded by pushing the boy and holding him against a door for a few seconds.

The boy was not injured.

Judge Christopher Harding also placed him on a four-month home curfew.