Shotgun threat gets 2 years jail

A Whangarei man who held a sawn-off shotgun to the head of his pregnant ex-partner and threatened to shoot her has been jailed for more than two years.
The woman, who was eight months' pregnant, was terrified by the threats and now has to live at a secret location, the Whangarei District court heard as Robert Patrick Burton, 24, was sentenced.
Burton pleaded guilty to a raft of charges, including threatening grievous bodily harm, presenting a firearm without lawful purpose and unlawful possession of a shotgun from December 6, 2010 when he tracked down his ex-partner and confronted her over a property dispute.
Burton also pleaded guilty to charges of assaulting the same woman on November 26 and charges of driving while forbidden, failing to give details to police, stealing $49.71 worth of petrol and breaching post release conditions.
Judge Greg Davis said on December 6, 2010 Burton's relationship with the woman had ended.
They were having a dispute because Burton believed he should have a car.
Burton contacted a female associate to get a gun and later picked up a sawn-off shotgun and ammunition. Burton and another man tracked down the woman and when she was lured outside to talk, Burton became aggressive.
Judge Davis said the woman refused to discuss the matter but he became angry and pulled out the shotgun and ammunition from a bag. Although there was no evidence the gun was loaded, Burton had a cartridge in his hand.
"Burton's reaction was to step forward, raise the shotgun and put it to her head while saying 'shall I shoot you now'," Judge Davis said.
"The woman was terrified." Burton's lawyer John Day said Burton was full of remorse for his actions and was determined to change his ways and become a good father to the son he had yet to see.
Mr Day said Burton had pleaded guilty at the earliest opportunity and deserved a discount of 25 per cent of his sentence. He asked the judge to consider home detention for Burton if the end sentence was two years' jail or less. But Judge Davis said Burton had an extensive criminal history stretching back to 2003 and had racked up many dishonesty offences, including thefts, burglaries and taking and interfering with motor vehicles.
He had also served several prison terms, with the most recent a two-year, three-month sentence for burglary from which he was released only eight months before attacking his partner.
Judge Davis gave Burton a total sentence of 42 months, then took 14 months off for mitigating circumstances, leaving an end sentence of two years, four months in jail.
He also remitted Burton's outstanding fines of $1775 and ordered him to pay $49.71 for the stolen petrol.