“While this is not the outcome police would have hoped for, I want to thank the frontline staff and specialist teams for their hard work in responding diligently to this very lengthy incident.”
The Herald can reveal that Dunlea was on bail after appearing in the Dunedin District Court on Friday accused of breaching a protection order.
The Otago Daily Times reported in 2019 that Dunlea was sentenced to two years and five months' imprisonment after a similar clash with police.
In court, Dunlea said: “People should just not upset me. They know what happens when I get rowdy.”
Dunlea, who pleaded guilty to seven charges, had clashed with police after a drunken altercation with a workmate and neighbours while trying to see his partner.
He brandished a metal bar when police arrived at a property and threatened them before setting fire to his partner’s possessions and trying to torch her car, the ODT reported.
The court heard that Dunlea had battled with alcohol for most of his life.
