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A homeless man playing with a toy plastic gun triggered fears among onlookers in downtown Tauranga, its district court was told today.
"In many parts of the world he would have been shot for that," prosecutor David Pawson said when Kevin Ian Patchell pleaded guilty to behaving in a disorderly manner in a public place.
The unkempt-looking, unemployed 51-year-old, of no fixed abode, had initially been charged with unlawfully carrying an imitation firearm.
Patchell was indignant in the dock, saying: "I was actually having a peaceful day listening to a toy device that makes noises."
"Well, you frightened the public. It's not funny," community magistrate Robyn Paterson replied fining him $400.
People did not know that the weapon was a toy, she continued.
"They just see a lunatic waving a gun around."
- NZPA
