Police dog handler injured in Kawerau siege back to full operational duties

Regan Mauheni in 2013 with his dog Thor. Photo/Stephen Parker

A police dog handler badly injured in the Kawerau siege two years ago is returning to full duties.

Constable Regan Mauheni was badly injured when a ricocheting bullet struck his skull during the 22-hour siege involving shooter Rhys Warren in March 2016.

On Thursday, the award-winning dog handler who has been with the police for a decade will graduate from the New Zealand Police Dog Training Centre with his new patrol dog Paikea.

The graduation will make his return to full operational dog section duties.

After undergoing surgery in Waikato and early rehabilitation in Rotorua, Constable Mauheni transferred south to Dunedin to assist his recovery.

He has raised Paikea, his third dog, as a foster pup from eight weeks old with the goal of graduating as operational together.

Mauheni has previously worked in Invercargill and the Rotorua dog section, working with patrol dogs Buck and Thor.

Last year Mauheni told Police News, the monthly magazine of the Police Association, he was "lucky to alive" after a bullet ricocheted off a colleague's M4 rifle and into his skull.