Murder accused 'gripped by fear'

Murder accused Alan Gundry, gripped by fear and anxiety, had seconds to respond to the escalating violence of his friend Gene Atkins when he fired two shots and killed him, a High Court jury heard yesterday.

Gundry, 30, shot Mr Atkins, 28, at his Orewa home on January 12 while Mr Atkins - who had been drinking heavily - was searching for his partner Sarah Jane Dean, who he had been fighting with that evening. Gundry has pleaded not guilty to murder, saying the shots were fired in self-defence.

The jury will begin its deliberations this morning after yesterday listening to closing addresses from the Crown, defence lawyer Graeme Newell and Justice Raynor Asher.

Mr Newell said five people had been on the receiving end of Mr Atkins' aggression in a short space of time after a dinner party went badly wrong.

"Should he have waited for more violence or worse violence ... Should he have waited to see what happened to Sarah Dean before he intervened?", Mr Newell asked the jury.

He said Gundry feared for his life. "The stress of being involved in a violent confrontation alone makes it difficult to weigh what the appropriate response is."

The first shot went down through the pelvis."It was consistent with the type that might disable an attacker, down low, and the pathologist Dr Koelmeyer said the first [shot] wasn't fatal."

Mr Newell said Mr Gundy acted "in a moment of crisis" to avert the danger by taking action he felt was reasonable.

The lawyer said Gundry was legally entitled to defend himself and others and a verdict of not guilty to the murder charge was right for that reason. Self-defence is a complete defence to murder.

Prosecutor Kevin Glubb said Mr Atkins had no chance to respond to the threat of Gundry's gun.

"He wouldn't even have seen the gun, down by [Gundry's] side, in the foyer ... No opportunity to assess the situation, to back down at all. It's just "bang bang", and lights out."

The Crown rejected Gundry's evidence that he feared for his life and did not believe he was provoked to an extent he was incapable of knowing what he was doing.