Daniel ‘Danny’ Livingstone, who shot Brownie the dog at a Hamilton supermarket, is a child rapist

Danny Livingstone, a convicted child rapist, shot a dog and its owner in the carpark at Hamilton's Clarence St Pak'nSave in May. Composite / NZME

The man who shot Brownie the dog in the head in a supermarket car park is a convicted child rapist who later cut off his ankle bracelet, sparking a manhunt.

Daniel Patrick Livingstone shot the dog after it barked at him and then twice shot its owner in the arm during a confrontation at Pak‘nSave Clarence St in Hamilton in May this year.

Livingstone, also known as Danny Livingstone, abducted and raped a 10-year-old girl in Whangārei in 2006. He was 19 at the time and was jailed for eight years.

After serving his full sentence, he was released in 2014 when he became subject to a seven-year Extended Supervision Order (ESO), requiring him to wear an ankle bracelet with a GPS tracker.

Court-imposed ESOs are used to monitor and manage the long-term risk posed by high-risk sex or violent offenders once released from prison.

At 3.50am on August 6, 2015, Livingstone removed the bracelet and left it in his Upper Hutt flat as he fled.

After Corrections was alerted to the fact that he may have absconded, police visited his property three times.

But without a warrant to enter, it wasn’t until 9am they were able to confirm he was gone.

However, police had already begun taking steps to find him, increasing their patrols around local schools, and asking the public to keep an eye out for him.

Police were concerned not only with the threat Livingstone posed to the community, but also to himself, and issued an alert to the country’s media stating he was “a high-risk offender and should not be approached”.

A photo issued by police of Daniel Livingstone in 2015 when he cut off his ankle bracelet. Photo / NZ Police

“If you combine those two, potentially there is a bigger risk,” Detective Inspector Grant Wormald said at the time.

Livingstone was eventually found the next afternoon near the Naenae shops in the Hutt Valley, around 7km from his home.

He had been spotted on the Hutt City CCTV camera network, which was monitored at the Lower Hutt police station.

He had seen a patrol car and tried to run, but ran straight into another unit.

An earlier report by Stuff said Livingstone, who was not from Wellington and had been there only a short time when he went on the run, had breached his ESO 16 times, mostly for drug use.

He last appeared before the Parole Board in March 2023 to vary the conditions of his ESO.

Daniel Livingstone in court in 2006. Photo / NZME

The board discharged his curfew but imposed 12 conditions, including that he not enter any gun shop, possess any firearm, or enter Whangārei.

However, the order came to an end in January 2024.

Young victim’s life ruined

In a 2006 court judgment, the judge who sentenced Livingstone for the rape and abduction said the victim’s young life had been ruined in a few moments of brutality.

The judge’s comments indicated Livingstone had misogynistic views and took no responsibility for his offending.

However, it was noted that he did plead guilty at an early stage.

A probation officer at the time assessed Livingstone’s risk of reoffending as high and his motivation to change as low.

Shot dog in supermarket car park

At his most recent sentencing, the court heard that the shooting of Brownie the dog and her owner played out around 11.45am on May 4 this year.

Livingstone, now 38, walked past the victim’s car, parked at the supermarket.

Brownie and the owner’s 9-year-old son were sitting in the vehicle.

The dog barked at Livingstone, prompting him to pull out an air pistol he had stashed in his pants.

He shot Brownie, sitting next to the window, in the head, causing her to bark in distress.

Livingstone was then confronted by the owners and asked why he’d shot the dog, leading to a “heated argument”.

The shooting incident occurred at Pak‘nSave Clarence St in Hamilton in May this year. Photo / Belinda Feek

Livingstone got out his air pistol again and shot one of them twice in his right arm.

He then fled on foot toward Grantham St, where he was arrested.

When police searched his backpack, they found the air pistol and a stash of copper-coated pellets.

Neither the man nor Brownie suffered any injuries from the shots.

Livingstone appeared before Judge Noel Cocurullo for sentencing after earlier accepting a sentence indication on charges of cruelty to an animal and assaulting a person using a firearm.

The judge took a starting point of 10 months’ jail, and added a 5% uplift for his history.

After a 20% credit for his guilty plea, Livingstone was jailed for eight months.

However, the judge noted he would soon be released because he had effectively served his time while remanded on bail.

Belinda Feek is an Open Justice reporter based in Waikato. She has worked at NZME for 10 years and has been a journalist for 21.