‘I was stitched up’: Man who tried to smuggle sawn-off shotgun, cartridge onto flight jailed

Arana Anderson tried to get this pistol-grip sawn-off shotgun onto a domestic Air NZ flight in July. Photo / Supplied

A man who tried to take a sawn-off shotgun and cartridge on an Air NZ domestic flight claims he was “stitched up” by his cousin.

Arana Joshua Anderson, 28, arrived at the domestic terminal at Christchurch Airport about 8.45am on July 6 to board a flight back home to Hamilton.

However, he was denied boarding due to his carry-on luggage being “too large”.

He was returned to the check-in area where Aviation Security scanned and checked his bag.

It was then they saw what looked like a pistol and ammunition.

Anderson fled the airport and police were called.

Searching his bag, they found a sawn-off shotgun with an altered pistol grip handle along with one shotgun cartridge.

When questioned, he claimed he was “stitched up by my cousin”.

Anderson appeared in the Hamilton District Court for sentencing this afternoon sporting black sunglasses.

Judge Simon Menzies quizzed him on his eyewear, when he revealed he had one eye.

Counsel Ted Walsh said while Anderson had a poor criminal history he didn’t have to go to jail, suggesting Judge Menzies come to an end sentence of 18 months prison, to then be converted to home detention.

He also cited his Section 27 cultural report which showed he had “on hand a hope of a nice start in life, but that very quickly turned into a grim picture where most of what one could hope for as a person was taken away.

“And probably one could say almost expected, that he’s ended up taking a path that’s seen matters such as this come about.”

Judge Simon Menzies noted Anderson’s poor upbringing, as highlighted by Walsh, but also that he had been assessed as being at medium to high risk of reoffending and harm to others.

He also had an extensive criminal history - with more than 30 convictions - with his most recent jail term being handed down in August last year.

The judge agreed with Walsh’s length of sentence and while Anderson was within the home detention range, there was no way he was going to avoid jail on these charges.

“I can tell you immediately that I am not going to do [home detention].

“There is widespread and justifiable concern about the presence in the community of firearms.

“This was a sawn-off shotgun ... ammunition involved and my assessment is there are very rare circumstances where possession of firearms such as that will not end up in terms of imprisonment.”

On charges of unlawfully carrying a firearm and ammunition Anderson was jailed for 18 months.