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A High Court judge has added his weight to a public chorus of objections over a police decision to charge a gunshop worker who shot an armed intruder.
In a relatively rare move Justice Rhys Harrison several times today said he was worried that a man who defended himself against an attacker armed with a machete, now faced firearms charges.
Greg Carvell shot Ricky Beckham in the stomach with a .45 calibre Colt revolver last July.
Beckham had entered his Penrose gunshop with a machete, threatened to kill him and demanded guns.
Minutes before he today jailed Beckham for two years and nine months on a charge of aggravated burglary, Judge Harrison said he felt a "sense of injustice" that Carvell had been charged with a firearms offence.
"I am most concerned that Mr Carvell, acting in his own defence and in the defence of another employee, is facing serious criminal charges," he said.
Carvell had spent $10,000 so far on the defence.
"There is an element of unfairness in this," said the judge who also asked if both men attended a restorative justice meeting, the charges could be dropped.
Beckham's lawyer, Jim Boyack, said Mr Carvell had refused to attend restorative justice.
The court was told Beckham was on a suicide mission and intended no harm to anyone other than himself.
He wanted to scare the gunshop workers, whom he anticipated would flee. That would allow him to get guns, drink beer and look at pictures of his son before killing himself.
Beckham was originally charged with aggravated robbery.
He initially pleaded not guilty but charged his plea to guilty when the charge was changed to aggravated burglary. Both charges carried a maximum sentence of 14 years in prison.
Crown prosecutor Aaron Perkins told the court the police summary of the incident showed Beckham was warned repeatedly to stop but kept advancing until he was shot.
The police believed Beckham intended to steal one or more guns but he told a detective he only wanted to get a gun to kill himself.
Mr Boyack said after six months of reflection in prison, Beckham appreciated the harm he had done.
He did not blame the victim for shooting him and wanted to apologise for the extreme harm "his self-centred behaviour occasioned".
He was anxious to confess as soon as he was medically able to after his treatment, Mr Boyack told the court.
He had gambled family money and separated from his partner who said he would never see his son again and that he was an unfit father.
"I was tired, very tired of life," Beckham had said, Mr Boyack told the court.
"I couldn't see the point of carrying on," he had said.
Mr Boyack told the court Beckham had said he deserved to be shot and no one else should be charged.
Outside the court, gunshop owner Ray Carvell said he did not believe Beckham and did not accept that his remorse was genuine.
"I don't swallow the bill of goods that he wanted guns to kill himself," Mr Carvell said.
Greg Carvell has been charged with possessing a firearm without lawful, proper or sufficient purposes and is due back in court later this month for a pre-depositions hearing.
- NZPA
