Crossbow victim ‘intent on crime'

A Christchurch man who died after being shot with a crossbow was trespassing and intended to commit a crime, police say.

Anton Theodore Nauer, 22, died on Sunday from a single wound to the stomach.

Christchurch sales representative Dean Christopher Pender, 21, has been charged with assaulting Nauer, but may face more serious charges.

Pender appeared in the Christchurch District Court yesterday and was remanded without plea in custody, to reappear next week.

Police allege Mr Nauer, with Jared James Little and Hayden Keith McDougall, went on to a Wainoni Rd property without authority and with "intent to commit a crime", say court documents.

Pender lived at the property.

A family member told the Press newspaper that Mr Nauer had been released from jail only last Monday after serving a term of imprisonment for burglary.

"He was a lovely boy - and I'm not just saying that because he's died. He had a wonderful heart," the family member said.

"He never had a life. He had just started it. He was going to go up to Wellington to live with his dad."

Police say anyone can buy a crossbow like the one which allegedly killed Mr Nauer, because it is not classed as a prohibited weapon.

But the law does say that if the crossbow is bought for the purpose of bodily harm it is classed as an offensive weapon.

Police felt this classification was sufficient for a weapon of that type, said licensing and vetting manager Joe Green.

He said that in his six years in the job, he could not remember another incident of the same type involving a crossbow.

New Zealand First MP Ron Mark called for an urgent law change to bring crossbow ownership under the same regulations as firearms.

"Given the upsurge in their use by criminal elements, it is obviously time for an amendment to the law so that crossbows are treated in the same way as firearms," Mr Mark said.

A Christchurch retailer spoken to by the Press said he chose not to stock crossbows because they "tend to attract the wrong element".

"They tend to be the same sort of guys that want to go out and a buy an AK47."

- NZPA