Otoko incident: Black Power man's excuse for firearm, "Nothing to do with gangs"

A man with long-standing ties to Black Power has admitted illegally discharging a firearm at a private property in Otoko but has successfully argued it wasn’t in any way gang-related.

John Manuel, 36, was simply a keen hunter who couldn’t resist going after a few wild fallow deer he saw in a paddock while driving past, counsel Mana Taumaunu said in Gisborne District Court.

According to a summary of facts, an associate was with Manuel when he fired a shot that was heard and reported to police on June 13 this year. Officers were waiting by Manuel’s parked ute when he re-emerged from the property having hidden his firearm and proclaiming it wasn’t him or his mate who had let off a shot.

A dog handler who recovered the firearm was able to prove otherwise.

Judge Kevin Phillips agreed with Mr Taumaunu’s assessment of the offending — apart from Manuel’s unlawful possession of a Howa 7.62x39 rifle and his illegal firing of it, especially among farmed animals -—there was nothing more sinister to the incident. It wasn’t anything to do with gangs.

However, the judge said it was “really disappointing” to see Manuel in court when reports showed he had worked “really hard” to dig himself out of a hole by getting free of a methamphetamine addiction, getting a job, buying a house, and getting his life back on track.

“All those positive things have been put to the test by you taking your mind out of gear,” the judge said.

Mr Taumaunu said that was true but these offences were much less serious than other firearms offences for which Manuel had previously appeared. These did not involve violence or drugs.

Manuel had pleaded guilty to unlawfully possessing the rifle and illegal hunting.

Mr Taumaunu submitted a sentence starting point of 12 months imprisonment for the lead offence of unlawfully possessing the firearm , with two months uplift adjusted for totality for the other charge, and a further month’s uplift for Manuel’s past criminal history, which the probation service had described as “extensive and colourful”.

After discount for his guilty pleas and credit for his efforts to turn his life around, the end sentence could be one of community detention, possibly coupled with community work, Mr Taumaunu said.

Judge Phillips challenged the suggested uplift for past convictions saying, “That’s tokenism. It doesn’t bring home the point that he has this unenviable history, involving drugs, weapons, violence, and breaches of a protection order and yet he still considers he should be able to have firearms in public and not have them under control in a vehicle.”

The uplift should be three months, the judge said.

An end prison sentence should be somewhere within a range of six to nine months but as pointed out in a probation report, sending Manuel to jail would “totally dump” all his recent positive achievements, the judge said.

In those circumstances, he was content to convert the nominal prison term to four months community detention (daily curfew 8pm to 5am).

Manuel’s ute would be returned to him. However, his rifle (valued at about $1500) and some hunting gear which were seized were to be forfeited to the Crown.

As Manuel went to leave the dock, the judge smacked the top of his bench with his hand and told Manuel,  “And remember you need to walk the line and don’t veer off it!”