Whangārei man who led police on 90-minute chase given home detention

Police on the hunt for a man in through mangroves at Otaika on the edge of Whangārei Harbour, in October last year. Photo/ Michael Cunningham

A Whangārei man who led police on a 90-minute chase through paddocks, bush and muddy mangrove flats, who was earlier found with an illegal firearm and ammunition in his car, has been sentenced to home detention.

Dennis Taylor McKeeman, 21, was sentenced in the Whangārei District Court on Tuesday after earlier pleading guilty to a raft of charges from three incidents.

The charges included possessing a firearm and ammunition without lawful purpose, possessing methamphetamine, possessing utensils for smoking drugs, possessing cannabis, refusing to give a blood sample, refusing to accompany an officer, dangerous driving, reckless driving, three counts of driving while forbidden, failing to stop when requested and failing to stop for red and blue flashing lights.

Judge Greg Davis said on July 21, last year, McKeeman appeared to be under the influence of drugs when he was stopped by police because of his dangerous driving. A sawn-off .22 rifle was found in his vehicle's boot and ammunition for it inside the car. Also in the car was a bong for smoking cannabis.

Dennis Taylor McKeeman was sentenced to home detention on a raft of firearm, driving and drug charges after leading police on a 90 minute chase across mudflats. Photo / John Stone

On September 19, McKeeman was stopped again in Raumanga. He was found to have 0.19g of meth and he refused to provide a blood sample.

On October 29, police saw McKeeman driving on State Highway 1 at Otaika but he drove off. He later abandoned the car and was chased by police and a dog handler, who tracked him for 90 minutes through paddocks, bush and muddy mangrove flats before he was arrested.

Judge Davis said he must hold McKeeman to account for his crimes and the starting point was imprisonment.

The judge said McKeeman did not have a firearms licence and the only reason people had sawn-off rifles was for illegal purposes.

He said since the Christchurch mosque massacres 12 months ago the appetite for weapons such as this in the community had gone down and the judiciary had to reflect Parliament's harder line on illegal guns and let people who possessed them know that they would likely get a term of imprisonment.

''You are not going possum shooting with a sawn-off .22,'' Judge Davis said.

''The only reason anybody would have a weapon like that is for unlawful purposes.''

Judge Davis set a starting point for sentencing at 26 months' jail, then deducted two months for the time McKeeman had spent on electronic bail and a further six months for his guilty pleas, leaving an end sentence of 18 months' jail.

He said this equated to eight months home detention, which was the final sentence handed down, along with a 12-month disqualification for driving.

However, Judge Davis warned McKeeman that it was a concern that he was still driving while on bail for earlier driving offences and if he appeared in court for driving offences again, the sentencing judge would likely ''chuck you straight in jail''.