KEY POINTS:
The widow of a man shot dead by a friend in a hunting accident says a criminal conviction is the right thing for the person responsible, but it does not help her.
Denise White believes Shane Ian Phibbs had to be held accountable after he mistook her husband, William Douglas White, 40, for a deer and shot him during a hunting trip on May 1.
In the Nelson District Court yesterday Phibbs, 39, admitted a charge of careless use of a firearm, a .308 rifle, causing his friend's death.
"As far as I'm concerned, I'm not going to stand in the way of anything that's going to happen, basically," Mrs White said.
"It was a really bad accident, but it could have been avoided because [Phibbs] didn't identify his target and that's the No 1 rule in hunting. Bill was very firm ... with Shane about that."
Mrs White had spoken to Phibbs since the hunting accident, but was uncertain what she had gained from the meeting.
"It definitely helped him. I don't know if it helped me. I just sort of made him look me in the eye and I just [said] 'this is a really tragic thing that has happened to Bill'."
Asked if she could forgive Phibbs, Mrs White said: "I'm not prepared to say that at the moment. I'm just going through so much, and my thoughts change all the time, basically."
Phibbs refused to comment when contacted by the Herald yesterday.
But in court his lawyer, Garry Barkle, said Phibbs had asked him to convey his sincere and deep apologies over Mr White's death.
"He has done everything he can to this point to put things right," Mr Barkle said.
Mr White and Phibbs were on an annual week-long deer hunting trip with Mr White's brother in the Rough River area, west of Reefton, when the tragedy happened.
The men had hunted together for about 20 years and knew the area well.
The court heard the three spoke about safety procedures, including the wearing of orange high-visibility hats, before dispersing into three defined hunting areas, Mr White in an area north of the base camp and Phibbs to the south.
About 4pm Phibbs settled by a group of trees and saw movement 60m to 65m from his position. Using a scope, he saw what he thought was the head, neck and shoulders of a deer, shot it and saw it fall.
When he reached the site he found Mr White lying dead on the ground.
Phibbs and Mr White's brother were forced to wait until the next day to trek out and raise the alarm.
Phibbs told police he was sure he had seen a deer and that he was "always so careful".
Earlier police said Mr White was wearing khaki clothing and had a high-visibility cap, although it was unclear if he had been wearing it.
Phibbs was remanded to July 17 for sentencing.
