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A young man who repeatedly shot at police during a two-hour pursuit between Rotorua and Waihi says his actions were "just a mistake inlife".
James Raymond Warren Samuells, 20, was shot by police after refusing to surrender and is a paraplegic as a result.
Yesterday, he made a sudden change of plea and admitted eight charges of using a firearm against police before a depositions hearing at the Tauranga District Court.
He also pleaded guilty to burglary and vehicle theft, and will now be sentenced in September. A charge of attempted murder was downgraded.
Samuells' girlfriend, Yana Poata, has already admitted her part in the January incident, which began when the pair broke into a house near Rotorua and stole a .22 rifle and ammunition, and a van loaded with explosives.
The owner of the van was licensed to handle explosives, and the police armed offenders squad was called in.
During the next two hours, officers pursued the van as Poata drove it erratically to Tauranga, and then along State Highway 2 to Waihi.
Samuells leaned from the passenger window numerous times and aimed the rifle at police, firing on at least four occasions and hitting their vehicles.
The weather was rainy and other motorists were forced to swerve to avoid the van, which veered across the centre line and tried to push patrol cars off the road.
During the drama, Samuells called 111 and told police he had a hostage and if they continued pursuing the van, he would shoot both them and the hostage.
The van was eventually forced off the road in the centre of Waihi and Samuells emerged.
He pointed the rifle at an officer just 10m from the van and had his hand on the trigger when shot once by police in the chest.
Samuells was granted bail until sentencing and outside court said he had no explanation for his actions.
"It was just a mistake in life," he said. Asked if he was intoxicated, he replied: "No, I was straight as a nail. There was no drugs taken or anything."
The 20-year-old said he was prepared to go to jail and understood people could have been hurt or killed.
"I did something bad in my life and I've got to face the consequences. I'm in a [wheel]chair for the rest of my life. That's a well-learned lesson."
The police officers' identities were suppressed, and the officer in charge of the case, Detective Alan Kingsbury, told the Herald they had been traumatised to varying degrees by Samuells shooting at them.
Community magistrate Gary Moltzen granted Samuells bail on the basis that a remand facility would have difficulty coping with someone in his circumstances.
Samuells' lawyer, Roger Laybourn, said his client was not a flight risk.
As well as having no use of his legs, he had lost his spleen, pancreas and a kidney.
Simon Bridges, acting for police, opposed bail, saying Samuells was the subject of four arrest warrants when taken into custody for this incident.
