No conviction for man who made a bomb, blew it up and torched a historic reserve

A massive ball of fire goes up on the edge of a cliff on Purerua Peninsula when Ryan Moffat detonated a home-made bomb. Photo / Supplied

A Northlander who escaped conviction after he admitted setting off a home-made bomb that started a fire in a historic Bay of Islands reserve, has had his discharge overturned after police appealed.

Ryan Moffat, 26, walked out of the Kaikohe District Court a free man in January last year after successfully applying for a discharge without conviction on the grounds his culpability was reasonably low, the fire wasn't deliberate, and that a conviction would affect his job.

The certified pyrotechnics handler constructed a bomb, buried it on a beach on the Purerua Peninsula in January last year, then went up a hill with two friends to watch as he detonated the bomb using a firing box.

He ignored his friends' advice that the hidden device was too close, within 5m of a cliff face with vegetation and hanging trees.

The resulting fire ignited vegetation on a nearby cliff and swept up the side of a historic pa at Rangihoua Heritage Park, the site of New Zealand's first European settlement.

About 30 firefighters and seven fire appliances fought the fire. A helicopter finished the job the next morning.

Moffat was charged with arson, which carries a maximum penalty of 14 years in jail.

Moffat applied for a dismissal of the charge on the ground there was insufficient evidence to prove recklessness beyond reasonable doubt.

But Judge Russell Collins said as someone familiar with fireworks, Moffat did understand the risk of setting off a home-made bomb at the height of summer when a total fire ban was in force.

Moffat then pleaded guilty to arson and and at a hearing in the district court successfully applied for a discharge without conviction before Judge Brandt Shortland.

The charred vegetation on a cliff at Rangihoua Heritage Park after Ryan Moffat's home-made bomb was detonated. Photo / Supplied

At appeal, police argued Judge Shortland erred in law in his assessment of the gravity of the offending by overlooking relevant considerations such as Moffat being warned by his friends about the close proximity of the vegetation.

Moffat's argument that a conviction would affect his job, family business, ability to travel overseas, and obtain mortgages and bank loans in future were not supported by evidence, police said.

Justice Wylie agreed: "Mr Moffat may not have known that an explosive detonated together with petrol in a hole a metre underground would erupt in a fireball, but he was seriously reckless in detonating the explosive device when petrol was present in the vicinity of nearby vegetation."