KEY POINTS:
A man accused of burning down a historic church threatened to "biff" a judge in the head if not stood down.
Maori radical Francis Shaw, 41, heckled jurors when he appeared in Palmerston North District Court yesterday for a retrial.
He also pushed a security guard, threatened "physical violence" and sang songs with a slavery theme, The Dominion Post reported.
Shaw is charged with arson after being accused of burning down Maoridom's oldest church, Rangiatea Church, in Otaki in October 1995.
He is representing himself.
Asked for his plea, he replied: "Do I look like a slave to white middle-class New Zealand? What business is it to you?"
At jury selection, he objected to all the "Pakeha" names called.
He then told Judge Alastair Garland to "hurry up and stand me down".
Shaw asked the judge if he wanted him to jump over the "box" and give him a "biff".
He was taken back to the cells.
Shaw was found guilty in April 2005 of burning down Otaki's Rangiatea Church in 1995.
He was sentenced to four years' jail for the destruction of the church, which was built by Te Rauparaha in the 1840s. It has since been rebuilt but historic carvings were lost.
In November 2005 the Court of Appeal reversed the conviction and ordered a retrial.
- NZPA
