Man on bail threatened 'to shoot everyone'

A man released on bail threatened to "shoot everyone".

Just one day after being released on bail following an armed offenders callout Peter Alan Richardson was looking for guns and threatening to "shoot everyone".

Richardson, who had name suppression at his initial court appearances, was arrested in a farm paddock after a large scale police alert near Waipukurau on August 21.

The second escapade was revealed when Richardson, 53, appeared in Hastings District Court yesterday and pleaded guilty to eight charges relating to the inital incident and further offending on August 25.

Through defence counsel Bill Calver he pleaded guilty to charges of threatening to kill or cause grievous bodily harm, two of possessing firearms without a licence, and one of unlawful possession of a pistol relating to the earlier events, on a Friday morning, while denying a charge of presenting a firearm.

He also pleaded guilty to charges of threatening, dangerous driving and failing to stop for police, in Hastings the following Tuesday night.

A police summary, presented by police prosecutor Sergeant Jae Mason, said Richardson became enraged in a domestic dispute at his Waipukurau home about 9am on August 21. He took a .22 rifle and a .177 calibre pellet gun from a firearms safe and left saying he was going to kill a man and woman.

He drove to a property south of Takapau but, finding the pair were not at home, left and said he was heading to the man's workplace.

After seeing a police car, which turned to take chase, he threw the guns from the vehicle and drove on. He abandoned the vehicle on SH2 soon afterwards and fled into paddocks, where he was arrested by armed police.

On Tuesday, August 25, while on bail and in breach of a 24-hour curfew ordered by a Judge, Richardson drove from Waipukurau to Hastings, ringing home to say he was going to break into a shop, steal firearms and drive back to Waipukurau to "shoot everyone," the summary said.

Fleeing police he drove the wrong way through the Stortford Lodge roundabout, and forced other motorists to take evasive action as he ignored a red light at the intersection of Pakowhai Rd and St Aubyn St, before turning and heading south out of Hastings at speeds exceeding 120km/h before being stopped and apprehended.

There was no application for bail and Judge Gerard Winter remanded Richardson in custody for sentencing on November 11.