A man charged after last year's nationwide police raids narrowly escaped the prison cells yesterday after a judge issued, and then withdrew, a warrant to arrest him.
Phillip Jack Purewa, 24, is one of 18 people facing firearms charges after a police operation last October dubbed Operation 8.
Leave was granted for Purewa to attend a tangi on Monday and he was given until noon yesterday to appear.
When his name was called to have his charges read to him and he couldn't be found, Judge Mark Perkins issued a warrant.
Purewa's lawyer, Charl Hirschfeld, then filed an affidavit to the court that explained his non-appearance.
Mr Hirschfeld said he had told his client what would happen if he failed to appear when his name was called again.
Judge Perkins said he had watched Purewa and said he had a short attention span. "He has the attention span of 10 or 13 seconds before he has to go out."
Purewa was then stood down until today so up-to-date information on the firearms charges he faces could be obtained.
"He's lucky to have been called this afternoon quite frankly," Judge Perkins said.
Purewa and 17 others are facing a depositions hearing at the Auckland District Court this week that will determine whether the case against them will go to trial or not.
Police originally charged the group under terrorism legislation, alleging they took part in military-style training camps, but the charges were thrown out by the Solicitor-General.
They were instead charged under the Arms Act for charges ranging from possession of a rifle to possession of restricted weapons such as molotov cocktails.
The depositions hearing continued slowly yesterday as more than 300 charges continued to be read to defendants.
Eight people had their charges read out yesterday, with some requesting their charges be read in Maori.
Of the people who appeared yesterday: Whiri Andrew Kemara faces 29 charges, Tuhoe Francis Lambert faces 12, Jamie Beattie Lockett faces 15, Marama Hannah Mayrick faces 13, Watene Paul McClutchie faces 33, Valerie Morse faces 12, Trudi Paraha faces 17 and Urs Signer faces 22.
The last four defendants will have their charges read today before evidence can begin to be presented against the accused.
