Nelson standoff: Phillip Mant pleads guilty to kidnapping, bomb threat charges

Police at the scene of a hostage situation in Nelson last year in which Phillip Mant threatened the victims at gunpoint and also threatened to blow up the house. Photo / Tim Cuff

• Phillip Clinton Mant held two victims at gunpoint, one for 15 hours.
• The incident involved homemade explosives and led to the lockdown of schools and a hospital.
• Mant has now pleaded guilty and been remanded in custody for sentencing in July.

The man who held a woman at gunpoint for 15 hours and threatened to blow her up with a homemade bomb was furious with the outcome of an earlier court matter.

Phillip Clinton Mant pleaded guilty in the Nelson District Court today to a raft of charges linked to the incident near the central city that initially involved two victims.

It prompted the lockdown of nearby schools, the hospital and a campground and inconvenienced thousands of residents after many streets were closed.

Residents in the street where it happened chose to leave their homes until the incident was resolved.

Nelson man Phillip Mant held his victim at gunpoint for 15 hours during a tense standoff in Nelson last August. Photo / NZ Police

Mant, 56, admitted two charges of kidnapping, using an explosive to commit an offence, unlawfully possessing a firearm, committing a crime with a firearm, threatening to kill and grievous bodily harm, two charges of breaching a protection order, and committing a threatening act towards a dwelling and the people in it.

The charges were linked to events in August last year, triggering a large-scale and lengthy police response.

Crown prosecutor Mark O’Donoghue said the victims, one of whom was an 80-year-old man held by Mant, believed they would die if his demands were not met.

In the months leading up to August 12, Mant wrote hundreds of pages of notes venting his anger.

The police summary of facts said the notes included vulgar abuse of the primary victim and lawyers, as well as self-justification for the offending.

Mant had obtained a .22 rifle and ammunition and had made what police said was a “crude” improvised explosive device (IED) by taping three small gas cylinders together.

He also had eight envelopes containing pages of handwritten notes which were his “demands” to the police during the hostage situation he planned to create.

He then drove to the victims’ street in Nelson, parked about 200 metres away and walked to the house carrying the loaded rifle fitted with a silencer, the ammunition and the explosives.

Mant walked to the back of the house, where he found the elderly man sitting outside and forced him inside.

He then found the woman in the kitchen, pointed the gun at the pair and forced them into the lounge. He made them sit on separate chairs and placed the explosive next to the woman.

He closed all the windows and curtains while yelling abuse and continuing to point the rifle at them.

The pair believed that, if they tried to leave or did not do as they were told, Mant would shoot them.

Phillip Mant threatened to blow up the house in which he held a woman hostage for 15 hours with this homemade explosive made from three gas canisters taped together. Photo / NZ Police

The woman’s belief was confirmed when Mant told her that, if she tried to run, he would “pop” her.

He then made her call the police, who could hear Mant in the background on a call that lasted about 98 minutes, yelling abuse and telling her what to say.

The victim told police she was being held by Mant, that he was holding a firearm and that he wanted the police to get the envelopes he had left in the car, which contained his “demands”.

The police call-taker also heard Mant’s threats to blow up the house before he took the phone and said directly to the call-taker: “I have LPG canisters, I’ve put them on [the woman]. If you guys come in, you’ll see this place will be gone.”

Mant continued to hurl vulgar abuse at the victim, who police said feared for her life.

After the 111 call ended, the police hostage negotiation team initiated contact with Mant, who then released the 80-year-old man who, by that time, had been held for about two hours.

Early the next morning, Mant surrendered to police.

He left the rifle inside and walked out onto the street, where he was arrested.

The threat was resolved with the help of a large police contingent including negotiators and officers from Canterbury and Wellington.

Mant told police he had gone to the address with the rifle and gas canisters to “create an incident” in which his grievances would be addressed.

He said he would “never hurt an unarmed woman”.

Mant was remanded in custody for sentencing in July.

District commander Superintendent Tracey Thompson said at the time that police understood it was a distressing incident for those involved, and the victims had been offered ongoing support.

Thompson said police also thanked the community, especially those in the surrounding areas for their patience and co-operation throughout what was a very unsettling time.

“I would also like to thank all our staff for their incredible dedication and hard work to ensure this incident was resolved safely.”

Tracy Neal is a Nelson-based Open Justice reporter at NZME. She was previously RNZ’s regional reporter in Nelson-Marlborough and has covered general news, including court and local government for the Nelson Mail.