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The gunshop worker who shot an intruder threatening to kill him with a large machete walked from court a free man today.
Greg Carvell pulled a .45 calibre pistol from its hiding place under a desk last July and fired one shot at Ricky Beckham in his gunshop in the south Auckland suburb of Penrose.
A depositions hearing was told Beckham waved a metre-long machete over his head and demanded guns as he advanced on Mr Carvell and fellow worker Bruce Motley in the Small Arms International gunshop in Great South Road on July 27.
The .45 calibre round hit Beckham in the stomach and he fell to the floor where Mr Carvell gave him first aid.
Mr Carvell was not charged with shooting Beckham but with possessing a firearm without lawful, proper or sufficient purpose.
Today two justices of the peace threw out the charge after a day-long hearing in Auckland District Court yesterday, saying there was insufficient evidence the gun was to be used for anything but a lawful, proper or sufficient purpose.
The ruling was greeted with cheers and applause in court room number five today as Mr Carvell visibly recoiled in relief.
Outside the court Mr Carvell's emotions were near the surface as he told reporters he was ecstatic.
"I am surprised and relieved."
He would not talk about the financial burden although his wife Nicola said they hoped it would be covered by donations they had been getting from throughout the country.
"It's been a long year, pretty stressful but it's over now," said Mr Carvell.
Had the charge been taken to court and had he been convicted, he could have lost his gun dealer's licence and his livelihood.
He said he had a right to defend himself.
"It was a ridiculous charge. Where was the criminal intent for having a gun? There was no criminal intent at all."
He said the Colt .45 was kept under the counter to protect himself and others.
"It can be a dangerous place a gun shop. There are a lot of desirable things for undesirable people."
Mr Carvell was asked if he thought the court's ruling was endorsing the right of someone to have a loaded weapon to protect themselves.
"Some might, but it wasn't loaded."
The court heard yesterday the gun had a magazine in the butt. It needed to be pushed fully home and the gun slide worked to load a round into the breach.
He was also asked if all shop owners should have a virtually loaded gun as protection.
"Yeah, gunshops. But I don't think other people can't have the right to defend themselves. Why would it be unlawful if they had a stick behind the counter."
He would have died had he not shot Beckham.
"I'd be dead, there is no doubt about that."
He said Beckham would then have had access to all the firearms in the shop.
"Once he had got the keys out of my pocket when I am dead you can have anything you want.
'I would have been chopped up with his machete and Bruce (fellow worker Bruce Motley) the same and the lady coming in to buy air gun pellets for her kid a minute later."
Mr Carvell said the support they had received from throughout the country was overwhelming.
He said little old ladies had come into the shop with $20 donations.
"It makes you cry a little bit really, it's overwhelming and makes you feel you are not on your own."
He would not say if he still kept a gun hidden under the counter, but said he now "had a good dog" in the shop all the time.
During the depositions hearing prosecutor Marc Corlett said the defence had raised emotional issues after the two men feared Beckham would kill them.
However, Mr Corlett told the court the charge was not about the shooting but about Mr Carvell breaching the law by hiding a gun in a desk the rear of his shop to use for self defence,
Mr Carvell's lawyer, Greg King, said there was not sufficient evidence to establish a prima facie case.
- NZPA
