Northlander found guilty of discharging firearm at pursuing cops

A Northlander has been found guilty at a re-trial in the High Court at Whangārei of firing shots in the air during a police pursuit. Photo /Michael Cunningham

A Northlander has been found guilty at re-trial of discharging a firearm twice during a police pursuit.

It took the jury in the High Court at Whangārei just over an hour yesterday to find Heta Lloyd, also known as Heta Brass, guilty on the main charges of using a firearm against police, dangerous driving and driving while disqualified.

Other charges he was found guilty of were failing to stop for police, unlawful possession of a firearm, unlawful possession of explosives (ammunition), possession of a knife in public, two charges of possessing Class C drugs - cannabis and cannabis seeds - and possession of a meth pipe.

The re-trial was held after a jury last year was unable to decide if the 30-year-old was the driver police pursued from Awanui onto State Highway 1 and through a mesh of gravel forestry roads on the night of July 25, 2018.

Police believed the driver was Lloyd - who with his partner also in the vehicle cut corners, failed to stop at a forestry road intersection, and reached speeds well in excess of 100km/h.

At one point, the driver pointed a gun out of the window and fired a shot. He eventually drove onto Ninety Mile Beach and fired a second shot.

The gun was not aimed at officers but it was certainly meant to intimidate them, Crown prosecutor Mike Smith told the jury during the trial.

When the vehicle finally came to a stop about seven kilometres on, police kept a safe distance away as they awaited the arrival of an Armed Offenders Squad.

The vehicle had been abandoned by the time it was approached.

A police dog then tracked the occupants through thick scrub into the early hours of the morning but they were not found.

The vehicle - registered to Lloyd's partner - and items in it were seized and searched.

Smith told the jury during the closing addresses yesterday that the two police officers involved in the pursuit were honest and reliable witnesses at trial who recalled the events that transpired that night.

If the jury looked at the circumstances of what happened and all the evidence at trial, Smith said they would be able to come to the conclusion that the driver of the car being pursued was Lloyd.

Defence lawyer Sumudu Thode told the jury the only issue at trial as far as Lloyd was concerned was his identity.

Lloyd's evidence was raw, uncensored and real when he told the court he was at a cousin's house in Herekino on the night of the police pursuit and was woken up by his partner, who came yelling the next morning that her vehicle had been stolen.

She said the best description the two police officers who gave chase were able to provide of the driver's identity was that of a male Māori with shoulder-length black hair, which was at best generic and vague.

"You don't find him guilty because you don't like his lifestyle. This is not a popularity contest. Even if you don't believe him or his cousin, where's the evidence that points to him as the driver?"

Lloyd was remanded in custody for sentencing at a date yet to be confirmed.

His partner Stacey Leah Walker-Haturini had already been dealt with by the courts for her part in the alleged offending.