Man jailed for three years on firearms charges

People caught driving at night with a loaded firearm in their car face a severe sentence, a Christchurch District Court judge has warned.

Shane Pita Rapana, 38, was last week jailed for three years after admitting unlawfully possessing a firearm, unlawfully possessing ammunition, attempting to pervert the course of justice and driving while disqualified.

Judge Murray Abbott said Rapana was stopped by police in Christchurch on the night of February 28 last year when his driving attracted attention.

He was seen by an officer to reach down between the seats. After he was taken to the police station, a tow-truck driver found a loaded, cut-down .22-calibre rifle wedged behind the driver's seat.

This was the most serious offence Rapana faced. "That is because offending of that nature, involving a loaded firearm, being out and about in the community, particularly at night in a vehicle, is offending of very serious concern to the courts and community at large," the judge said.

Rapana had a record for violence and weapons charges, including aggravated robbery, the judge said.

He was under a sentence of community work at the time of the offences. He was for re-sentence on that, and also had 20 convictions for driving while disqualified.

- nzpa