A man accused of a drive-by shooting following a fight with a neighbour was convicted in Tauranga District Court today after changing his plea.
Graham Doctor, 39, truck driver, was to have faced a depositions hearing on one count of discharging a firearm with intent to injure (which
carries a maximum penalty of seven years in jail under the Crimes Act) and another of unlawfully possessing a .22 calibre pistol.
However, the first charge was amended to one laid under the Arms Act - discharging the gun with reckless disregard for the safety of the victim and others.
Through his lawyer Glenn Dixon, Doctor then pleaded guilty to both charges.
Community Magistrate Garry Moltzen remanded him on bail to be sentenced by a judge on July 1. He said the question of community and home detention should be addressed in a pre-sentence report.
Doctor and the victim knew each other and lived about 100 metres apart at Papamoa, according to the summary of facts.
About 9am on March 23, the defendant got a telephone call from the neighbour who was upset that Doctor had visited his de facto partner two nights earlier when he was not at home.
The victim told Doctor to meet him out on the road. The pair had a short struggle before the other man walked off.
About five minutes later, the defendant drove up onto the grass verge outside the victim's house, according to prosecution evidence.
He accelerated heavily, causing the wheels to spin and rip up grass.
Doctor drove off but returned a short time later while the neighbour was standing in his front yard behind a wooden paling fence.
As he drove slowly by, he pointed a firearm out of the driver's window, holding it in a pistol grip with one hand while he steered the vehicle with his other hand.
The victim ducked down behind the fence when he saw the gun pointed at him and Doctor then fired a shot from about 25 metres away before driving off.
Other people in the area at the time saw what happened.
- NZPA
