Rotorua shoot-out appeal dismissed

File photo / Martin Sykes

The Court of Appeal has rejected a bid by a father and son to have their sentences for a 2008 shoot-out near Rotorua quashed.

Hareopa Katene was sentenced in the High Court at Rotorua in April to four years eight months in prison, and his son, Eria Katene, to two years four months, for their part in a violent family-related confrontation at Hauparu Bay on Lake Rotoiti, in September 2008.

They both appealed their sentences in July, saying the starting point was too high and Justice Geoffrey Venning failed to properly consider part of the Sentencing Act and several mitigating factors.

Both appeals were dismissed.

Hareopa Katene was convicted of discharging a firearm with intent to cause grievous bodily harm, recklessly discharging a firearm and unlawfully possessing a firearm.

He was already serving a 7-1/2-year sentence for other violent crimes, including aggravated robbery. His sentence for the Hauparu Bay offending was cumulative to that term.

His son was convicted of unlawfully discharging a firearm with intent to cause grievous bodily harm, and unlawfully possessing a firearm.

- NZPA