Judge Gordon Matenga said Fa’alele had told police he had obtained the weapons “for protection” and was supplying friends and relatives with about six tinnies of cannabis a week.
A tinny is typically a gram of cannabis wrapped in foil and sold for about $20.
Judge Matenga said the injuries Fa’alele had received in a car crash several years ago, which killed one of his friends, had largely been the cause of the problems he had faced since.
He had ongoing issues of pain, which meant finding work was difficult, and he went on to ACC, which restricted the treatment available to him.
“You felt that your only way out of this was to take cannabis to relieve the pain,” Judge Matenga said. “You began to use it for that purpose.”
However, the fact that Fa’alele also had firearms in his possession “gives the offending a little bit of a sinister overtone”.
Judge Matenga said the convictions were “something of a fall from grace” for Fa’alele, not just because of his previous employment but because he had strayed from his religious beliefs.
Judge Matenga said Fa’alele had taken steps to address addiction problems. He had consulted a doctor and was now receiving medicinal cannabinoids on prescription.
Fa’alele’s home detention sentence came with conditions to attend an assessment for drug use, and any treatment recommended by that assessment, and counselling for grief and trauma.
These conditions would extend to six months post-detention.
Judge Matenga ordered the destruction of the firearms and cannabis.
