Police who raided the house of a gang member with a history of violence and firearms offending found two semi-automatic rifles, each with a loaded magazine and a live round in the chamber.
They also found cannabis, methamphetamine, and nearly $11,000 in cash, along with the trappings of drug dealing, including electronic scales and a container of zip-lock bags.
The target of the raid was Head Hunter gang member Kalwyn George Kershaw. The 42-year-old has more than 125 convictions and once slashed two men in a carpark brawl with a knife before pulling out a loaded revolver and threatening them.
On that occasion, in 2018, police later found his pistol in a taxi, cocked and ready to fire.
An account of the latest raid and firearms offences, in 2024, which landed Kershaw back in prison, is contained in a recent police application for a restraining order over the $10,950 seized from Kershaw’s house.
At the time, Kershaw had a declared income for tax purposes of only $284 a week.
Police went to Kershaw’s Southland home after he went shopping at Mitre 10 using gift cards that had been stolen earlier.
Two of the cards were found in the search, along with the cash, drugs and firearms.
In Kershaw’s bedroom police found a Rossi .22 calibre semi-automatic rifle fitted with a scope, noise suppressor and a torch.
The rifle was loaded with a magazine containing three cartridges and there was also a live round in the chamber.
The rifle had been stolen in a burglary in Invercargill previously.
Inside a table in the bedroom, police found another semi-automatic rifle - a Remington .22 calibre weapon, with its stock cut off and the barrel shortened.
It was loaded with a magazine containing eight rounds, and another live round in the chamber.
In addition to the cartridges loaded into the weapons, a further 47 live rounds were found in a tin.
Kershaw said he had the firearms and ammunition for “protection”.
He said he bought the stolen gift cards from an associate, and claimed that the 34.9g of cannabis and 8.4g of methamphetamine discovered in his house was for his personal use.
He told police he had obtained the money - $500 in his wallet, $3000 in his bedside drawer, and $7450 in a bag in his bedroom – from buying and selling vehicles.
Despite these claims, Kershaw later pleaded guilty to possessing methamphetamine for supply, possessing cannabis for sale, unlawful possession of the firearms and ammunition and receiving the stolen gift cards.
He was sentenced to two years and six months in prison.
Police have now made moves to confiscate the $10,950 found in Kershaw’s house, believing it to be the proceeds of his criminal activities.
Justice Robert Osborne granted a restraining order over the money in the High Court at Invercargill.
Police will need to make a separate application to the High Court to have the money permanently forfeited to the Crown under the Criminal Proceeds (Recovery) Act 2009.
In the 2018 incident, Kershaw pulled a loaded pistol on two young men after slashing them with a knife in an unprovoked attack in downtown Tauranga.
Kershaw left the fracas in the carpark on Hamilton St in a taxi but was quickly caught by the police.
Only after Kershaw was arrested did an eagle-eyed camera operator spot the silver revolver in his hand while watching the security footage.
Police urgently tracked down the taxi and found Kershaw’s pistol hidden under a seat - loaded and cocked.
Kershaw pleaded guilty to assault with intent to injure, possession of methamphetamine and unlawfully carrying a firearm, adding to a criminal record which was already 13 pages long.
The melee in Tauranga happened just three weeks after Kershaw was released from prison for other offending.
Ric Stevens spent many years working for the former New Zealand Press Association news agency, including as a political reporter at Parliament, before holding senior positions at various daily newspapers. He joined NZME’s Open Justice team in 2022 and is based in Hawke’s Bay. His writing in the crime and justice sphere is informed by four years of frontline experience as a probation officer.