Man who sparked AOS stand-off remanded in custody

File photo / NZ Herald

A man who sparked a three-hour stand-off with the armed offenders squad on Auckland's North Shore has been remanded in custody until November.

Emergency services were called after Mark Christopher Brown appeared to be firing an air rifle in a Torbay neighbourhood in June.

At the time, officers believed the high-powered air rifle was loaded and he was firing at a police helicopter.

Mr Brown, dressed in cream trousers and a dark pin-striped shirt, appeared in North Shore District Court this afternoon.

His lawyer, Johann Schlebusch, said the airgun had not been loaded at the time of the incident. This was not disputed by the Crown, which confirmed police had not found any ammunition during a search of Brown's home.

However, Judge Pippa Sinclair said the case ``had to be looked at from the perspective of the victims, who at that point, believed it could be loaded''.

Brown, 50, pleaded guilty at an earlier court appearance to assaulting three police officers with an airgun and pointing an air rifle at another officer.

Brown was today remanded in custody until November so his defence could prepare a case for an electronic monitoring sentence.