Family relieved husband found guilty of murder

Greg Meads in court. Photo / Christine Cornege

Distraught family of slain Matamata mother Helen Meads say they are relieved her husband has been found guilty of her murder.

Horse breeder Gregory Meads was found guilty of murder in the High Court at Hamilton today after the jury had deliberated for three hours.

Mrs Meads' parents, David and Pam White, wept as the verdict was announced while other supporters embraced.

Meads, a well known breeder, shot and killed his wife at their Matamata property on September 23 last year, four days after she announced plans to end their 12-year marriage.

Meads, 55, denied a charge of murder, saying he never intended to fire the gun at her throat.

Speaking outside court, Mr White said that before the shooting, Meads was violent toward his daughter.

"It's just typical, in this case, of family violence. Helen was being beaten in the house.

"We were incredibly annoyed at [defence counsel Murray] McKechnie's filling in the gaps as to why Helen was leaving [the marriage]. It was bloody obvious why she was leaving. Knowing what he knew and then to say it was a happy marriage that was really the very wrong thing to say."

Mr White said he doubted Meads would ever accept responsibility for murdering his daughter.

"He's a man that does not accept responsibility. As far as he's concerned it's the gun that's killed her."

Crown and defence counsel gave their closing addresses in the trial yesterday.

The Crown argued Meads' evidence during the trial was an attempt to "rewrite history".

Meads earlier told the court he decided to confront his wife with a loaded shotgun in a desperate effort to uncover "the truth" behind their marriage break-up.

Meads arrived at the stables and found his wife on the phone and waited for her to finish the call and then shot her once in the throat at close range.

The Crown argued it was a controlled shooting and therefore murder.

Counsel for Meads, Murray McKechnie, said his client had made a very foolish judgment to take a loaded shotgun into the stables but never planned to harm or kill his wife.

The officer in charge of the investigation, Detective Sergeant Rod Carpinter, today urged anyone suffering the effects of family violence to seek help.

"Here we have a woman who has lost her life, children left without their mother and their father facing a long term of imprisonment," Mr Carpinter said.

He said police needed society to get behind the message that family violence was not okay.

On average a woman was killed by her partner or ex-partner every five weeks in New Zealand.

"Police treat domestic violence extremely seriously and work closely with partner agencies to reduce the risk of such incidents occurring but we can't do it alone.''

- NZPA