Waikato man in his 70s allegedly caught with fireworks in pockets and a bomb in his lounge

Police say death would have been imminent. Composite photo / NZME, Getty

A man was so sick of being burgled he allegedly built a homemade bomb capable of wiping out everything in its path for a kilometre.

The explosive was only discovered by police after the Waikato man, in his 70s, was allegedly caught with two small homemade fireworks in his pocket when he entered Hamilton District Court yesterday.

He had arrived at the courthouse to support someone who was appearing.

The New Zealand Defence Force’s bomb squad was called to inspect the fireworks before the man allegedly told police what he had at his home.

Everyone within a 100m radius of his property was evacuated yesterday evening and his house was searched.

A homemade bomb was allegedly found in his lounge and all it required to detonate was an ignition.

Today, the man made his own appearance in the dock as he stood before Judge Noel Cocurullo, charged with possession of an offensive weapon, a fold-out pocket knife, and two counts of unlawful possession of explosives.

The accused’s counsel, Glenn Dixon, successfully applied for name suppression and asked for a four-week remand so he could get a private psychological report prepared.

‘Death would have been immediate’

According to the judge, who allowed media to report the allegations against the man, he entered the courthouse about 10.55am and was allegedly found with the two fireworks and a pocket-knife.

He was detained as the bomb squad arrived to analyse the devices. They deemed them as being capable of exploding, if lit, and causing “significant bodily injury”.

About 8pm, the area around his home was evacuated and the bomb squad went inside where they allegedly found a pipe bomb.

The bomb squad advised police that it had a “blast [radius] felt out to 1km and death would have been immediate in close vicinity”.

It was estimated that the shock from the blast would be felt for up to 2km.

The man allegedly said he made the device because he was sick of having property stolen from his house.

Judge Cocurullo declined his bail and remanded him in custody to reappear next month.

Any details identifying the man have been suppressed.

Belinda Feek is an Open Justice reporter based in Waikato. She has worked at NZME for nine years and has been a journalist for 20.