Guilty verdicts in park shooting trial

A jury has rejected Mark Daniel Graham Giddens' denials that he was the shooter at a confrontation in a Christchurch park and the 28-year-old is now in custody awaiting sentence.

Christchurch District Court Judge David Saunders was shown Giddens' criminal history at the end of the two day trial and told the jury it amounted to 10 pages of print-out.

Giddens had already admitted a charge of cannabis dealing at his home, a factor that is likely to rule out any prospect of serving time as home detention.

The trial was told that two groups, the US and RAKs, had faced off in Jellie Park on February 22, 2009, for one-on-one fights that had apparently been organised by text messaging.

Giddens denied crown evidence that he was the man who took a firearm out of the boot of a car and fired a shot that sent the combatants running off.

The jury retired to consider its verdict at 3pm when Judge Saunders ended his summing up, and after continuing deliberations after a break for dinner, it returned its two guilty verdicts soon after 8pm.

It found Giddens, a concrete worker, guilty on charges of unlawfully possessing the firearm, and firing it with reckless disregard for the safety of others.

He had already admitted the cannabis dealing charge but sentencing had been awaiting the outcome of the trial. The other charge was not known to the jury.

Defence counsel Rupert Glover asked for bail for Giddens pending sentence, saying he had been living under the restrictions of electronically monitored bail for 14 months awaiting trial, without any problems.

"That must have some bearing on the ultimate outcome of these matters," he said.

But Judge Saunders remanded Giddens to May 27 for a pre-sentence report and sentence, and ordered that he stay in custody "in view of the combination of these two offences".

There was a need for deterrence because of the use of a firearm in the public place.

"You are said to have been dealing in cannabis from your home address. I don't see a home detention report is going to be appropriate in those circumstances," he said.

Marcus Zintl appeared for the crown.

- NZPA