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Home / New Zealand

ChCh man shot at preschool sign with outline of children

David Clarkson
By David Clarkson
Open Justice multimedia journalist, Christchurch ·NZ Herald·
10 Feb, 2022 12:22 AM3 mins to read

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Pere Mataiti's target practice on pre-school signage that included the outline of children has cost him $521. Photo / George Heard
Pere Mataiti's target practice on pre-school signage that included the outline of children has cost him $521. Photo / George Heard

Pere Mataiti's target practice on pre-school signage that included the outline of children has cost him $521. Photo / George Heard

Pere Mataiti's target practice on pre-school signs that included the outline of children has cost him $521.

The sign, across busy Papanui Rd from Mataiti's house in Merivale, was so peppered with pellet shots from the military-style semi-automatic airgun that it had to be replaced.

The 35-year-old has avoided a prison term because he has now spent seven months in custody and nine months on electronically monitored bail.

Christchurch District Court Judge Stephen O'Driscoll released him on intensive supervision for 15 months with special conditions that he undergo interventions for family harm, alcohol and drug use, undergo psychological treatment and counselling, and not use alcohol or drugs.

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He will also be monitored with three-monthly reports to the judge on his progress.

Judge O'Driscoll ordered him to pay $521 reparation to the pre-school, $460 for the damage to a car's tyres, and forfeit the airgun.

Mataiti had pleaded guilty to recklessly discharging a firearm, and he had been found guilty at a judge-alone trial on a charge of possession of an objectionable publication - a 30-second clip of the Christchurch mosque shooter preparing to go into the mosque.

He also admitted breaching a protection order by having the airgun, and by slashing the tyres on a car.

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Some of the charges arose on September 13, 2020, after the shooting n Papanui Rd in Christchurch when the police wanted to gather evidence from Mataiti's cellphone.

Mataiti shot a battery-powered military style fully automatic air-gun from his bedroom window in Papanui Rd, hitting fences and advertising signs of a pre-school.

Police found the air rifle hidden near his bedroom.

When officers searched the street, they found about 80 pellets. They found several videos on his phone of him shooting the rifle across the road at night on September 8 and 10, 2020. It showed him targeting the pre-school sign and firing pellets at full-automatic setting several times.

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On one video, a cyclist travels beneath the arc of fire, and in another a car travels past while Mataiti is firing.

Mataiti had claimed he had accidentally downloaded the mosque video but at the end of the trial Judge O'Driscoll ruled that it could only have been downloaded through his intentional actions and he had not deleted it during three months the footage was saved to his device.

Judge O'Driscoll said a rehabilitative sentence was recommended. He noted Mataiti's efforts at rehabilitation.

Mataiti thanked the judge after the sentencing. He said: "I believe it is a fair judgment. I am dedicated to getting it done, and getting on with my life."

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