The price to pay for freedom

Paul McIntyre

Paul McIntyre reckons he'll probably die a farmer. "Farming's in the blood," he says.

But whether the 48-year-old will remain where he's worked for years at Whangae, near Kawakawa, is very much a $70,000 question.

He's going to have to wait to see how much is in the kitty from public donations through Northland and New Zealand Federated Farmers appeals, plus family and supporters' fundraising, before he knows the reality of what it took to make him a free man.

Mr McIntyre walked away from the Kaikohe District Court this week after two and a half years of legal process over what happened on his farm on the night of October 20, 2002.

Alone on his remote and isolated property, he was alerted by an unfamiliar vehicle backing up to his shed.

Mr McIntyre reached for his pump-action shotgun and went out into the dark to investigate.

He found three men trying to load his farm bike onto their light truck and fired a warning shot from his gun.

The intruders got back into their vehicle and drove off down the farm road. Mr McIntyre fired a second shot at a rear tyre of the fleeing vehicle, trying to stop it.

Instead of hitting the tyre, he hit Moerewa farm worker Sam Hati, seriously injuring him.

His two cousins, and companions on the night, Raymond and Ned Brown, left the vehicle and ran off.

Three days later and before his arrest on two charges, Mr McIntyre told the Herald: "The guy on the ground [Sam Hati] was making groaning noises. He said 'you didn't have to do that bro'."

Mr McIntyre ran back to his house and called police and an ambulance.

Hati spent time in Auckland Hospital undergoing surgery on a shotgun wound to his back and neck.

It was the beginning of what was to be a saga of legal process for all four.

Hati and the Brown brothers admitted their part in the escapade and received varying sentences.

Paul McIntyre was charged with shooting and injuring Hati with reckless disregard for the safety of others.

He denied the charge and after a five-day jury trial in Kaikohe in October last year, was acquitted.

The jury could not agree on a verdict for a second charge, laid under the Arms Act, that Mr McIntyre had discharged his shotgun without reasonable cause in a manner likely to endanger the safety of others.

It was on this charge that Judge Michael Lance made a rare legal ruling this week - he decided to direct the jury to find Paul McIntyre not guilty and Mr McIntyre walked away a free man.

"Justice finally," said a leading McIntyre farming supporter, who had been at the court since day one.

She echoed the comments of many who questioned why a blameless man should be charged for defending himself against three intruders while alone at night on a remote and isolated farm.

Mr McIntyre won the day, but the price may hurt. The farmer says he's postponed his earlier proposed sale of his house, farm sheds and an 18-acre block on which they stand.

"It's on hold until I see how much the balance is going to be between what I've got and the $70,000 legal bill.

"If the difference is too big, they will have to go back on the market."

The legal bill owing is separate to a bank overdraft used to keep the farm going and costs associated with defending the charges against him.

If Mr McIntyre is forced to sell it will leave him with only one block of a "couple of hundred acres" with no buildings or house on it.

"I've spent two and a half years not able to catch up on the farm. It's going to take a lot to get it back to where it was."

He runs 80-odd head of beef cattle at present and conditions are very dry.

He appreciates the help and generosity he's had from family and friends. It'll be another month or so before he knows whether he'll get his firearms licence back.

It's still not out of his head what happened on that October night.

"I don't think it will ever be. There are some things that scar you for life.

"It's a rush at present to get everything back to somewhere near normal. I'd like to have a break, but then you have a reality check and you know you can only dream about it."