It took at least five security officers to restrain Hemi Taylor after he was sentenced. Photo / Warren Buckland
It took at least five security officers to restrain Hemi Taylor after he was sentenced. Photo / Warren Buckland
The sentencing of the man behind a 12-hour standoff in Napier, ended in a scrap, with Hemi Taylor having to be dragged out of the dock by court security.
Taylor emerged from an Alexander Ave house carrying a baby at 1.30am on June 25, after an 12-hour standoffthat saw several blocks of Napier cordoned off.
The 26-year-old, who previously pled guilty to charges of unlawful possession of a firearm and discharging a firearm related to the standoff, appeared before Judge Tony Adeane in Napier District Court on Tuesday for sentencing.
Adeane sentenced Taylor to two years and five months for possession and 18 months for discharging the firearm, to be served concurrently.
Five court security officers were involved in restraining Taylor after he refused to leave the dock following Adeane's decision.
He described the offending, which resulted in a 12-hour lockdown in the Napier suburb of Onekawa before Taylor emerged with a baby, as serious.
He said Taylor's remorse was still to be tested.
He said Taylor was paranoid at the time of the stand-off after he had consumed methamphetamine he was supposed to transport from Napier to Gisborne for the Mongrel Mob.
On June 24 he and his partner visited her mother, where he took out a cut off shot-gun and yelled gang slogans.
By the time he, along with his partner and child, returned home to Alexander Ave, police had been alerted.
The resulting stand-off lasted 12 hours ending at 1.30am when Taylor agreed to surrender.