A Head Hunter pulled a loaded pistol on two young men after slashing them with a knife in an unprovoked attack in downtown Tauranga.
Head Hunter goes to prison for carrying "serious firepower" because of judge's concerns about growing number of gangland murders.
A Head Hunter's plan for a friend to take the blame for a military-style firearm - the weapon of choice in recent mass shootings overseas - backfired when both men went to prison.
Police found an AR-15 semi-automatic rifle, a suppressor, a telescopic scope, two high-capacity 30-round magazines, as well as 16 rounds hidden in the garage of Liam John Kane's Tauranga home.
The 28-year-old is a patched member of the Head Hunters and pleaded not guilty to charges of unlawful possession of a firearm and ammunition.
At his trial in September, an associate of the gang, Brent Anthony Gunning, gave evidence and attempted to take the blame.
Gunning, 38, told the jury he paid $800 for the firearm as a birthday present for himself.
He used it to shoot possums but put the AR-15 and ammunition in the wall cavity of Kane's garage, behind some wooden shelves, without telling his friend.
So the police charged Gunning too. The 38-year-old pleaded guilty to unlawful possession of a firearm and ammunition.
However, the jury in Kane's trial clearly did not believe Gunning.
Despite Gunning taking the fall - and eventually jailed last week for 15 months - Kane was found guilty of the same charges for the same weapon, as well as a breach of a protection order.
The AR-15 assault rifle and two high-capacity magazines seized from Liam John Kane. Photo / Supplied.
Two high-capacity magazines and 16 rounds of AR-15 ammunition seized from Liam John Kane. Photo / Supplied.
The AR-15 assault rifle seized from Liam John Kane. Photo / Supplied.
This week Kane was sent to prison by Judge Thomas Ingram for 3 years and 9 months, a sentence harsher than the prison time sought by the Crown.
But Judge Ingram said he was highly concerned about the number of recent "gangland" murders in the Bay of Plenty and the Waikato, many of which were fatal shootings.
The judge had presided over a number of prosecutions against the Head Hunters in recent years, including Kane's trial, and said firearms featured in all of them.
So Judge Ingram said he wanted to send a message to gang members caught with guns.
"This a serious piece of weaponry in wide use by military forces around the world," Judge Ingram said of the AR-15, a weapon fired in a number of recent mass shootings in the United States.
"I also consider possession by a gang member of a military-style weapon with two magazines which has serious firepower, as we have recently seen in the United States, as a serious aggravating factor."
The semi-automatic rifle - with the serial number ground off - was discovered in Kane's garage in October 2017.
Liam John Kane in a 2012 police mugshot. Photo / Supplied.
This was just six months after Kane was sentenced on the identical charge of unlawful possession of a shotgun hidden under his bed.
He was convicted on the single charge after a trial with seven other Head Hunters on dozens of charges stemming from the alleged kidnapping of a wealthy businessman.
In sentencing Kane on the shotgun charge to community detention and community work, Justice Timothy Brewer urged him to take a different path in life. Otherwise he would end up in prison.
"I do not see you as an evil person, I see you as a person with some real potential," said Justice Brewer.
"In this case, you have dodged a bullet but you are not bulletproof, and the Head Hunters are about serious drugs and violence when necessary."
Detective Sergeant Alan Kingsbury, the officer in charge of the AR-15 case, said police were finding more and more firearms in their day-to-day work.
"It's been really noticeable in the last few years," said Kingsbury, who has been in the force for 28 years.
"There's some serious firepower out there and it's hugely concerning."
Criminals often carry firearms to intimidate other criminals for money, colloquially referred to as "taxing" perceived debts, often for drugs.
This has led to a "vicious circle", said Kingsbury, where more underworld figures who fear being "taxed" carry firearms to protect themselves.
And while many people would not be concerned about criminals hurting one another, Kingsbury said innocent parties often get caught up in the violence.
Kalwyn Kershaw, left, pulling a loaded pistol from his pocket in an unprovoked attack on two young men in Tauranga. Photo / Supplied.
Just last month, Head Hunter Kalwyn Kershaw was jailed for pulling a loaded pistol on two young men after slashing them with a knife in downtown Tauranga.
And earlier this year, David Kuka was the victim of an "execution style" shooting in Gate Pa which police believe was a case of mistaken identity.
Detectives are investigating whether the 52-year-old was wrongly targeted in revenge after a Mongrel Mob member, Lance Waite, was also fatally shot in the same house a month earlier.
Across the country, the issue of illegal firearms has been a vexed issue since the Aramoana massacre in 1990.
Police have no accurate idea of the total number of guns in the country, as records of firearms were abandoned in 1982 for a system of licensing owners.
However, a 1997 review by Sir Thomas Thorp suggested there was evidence of a substantial pool of weapons held for criminal purposes that could be between 10,000 and 25,000.
The retired judge recommended a number of changes for stricter gun control but was mostly ignored.
More recently, criminals getting their hands on guns was the subject of a law and order select committee inquiry in Parliament.
But only seven of 20 recommendations were accepted in 2017 by the previous government.
