Stun guns tempt tourist

Cameron Lowe. Photo / APN

A plumber sent home consignments of stun guns while holidaying in Thailand.

Cameron Lowe, 25, was convicted in the Manukau District Court this week after he imported four consignments of 10 stun guns, disguised to look like torches, into New Zealand.

Lowe's lawyer said the self-employed plumber thought selling the stun guns would be a way of making "easy money", and was "foolishly tempted" when told plenty of tourists had bought the guns.

Three consignments of 10 high-voltage stun guns were intercepted by Customs, and another consignment - which Lowe brought home in his personal luggage - was found at his east Auckland house. Lowe had already sold two stun guns by text messaging potential buyers: "I got heaps of these tasers [sic], if you know anyone that may be interested."

The stun guns, which unlike tasers need skin contact to send the electrical charge, were sold to the highest bidder.

Lowe applied for a discharge without conviction, but Judge Ajit Singh said the gravity of the offending was too high and there was a commercial aspect that was dangerous to members of the public.

"In our courts we see on a regular basis, almost daily, aggravated robberies, serious violence and we see some of these are committed by stun guns, imitation guns and BB guns," Judge Singh said.

"There is no way of knowing whose hands these can come into, and they cause potential harm to victims and the community at large."

Customs lawyer Gareth Bostock said Lowe knew what he was doing was wrong. He had removed prongs on the stun guns in his luggage and carried them separately. He also used fictitious names on the packages he had sent by post.

NZ Customs opposed the discharge without conviction and said such offending needed to be recorded to alert border security.

Judge Singh did not impose any fine or sentence - the maximum is a six-month prison sentence or $10,000 fine - because Lowe had an unblemished record, had entered an early guilty plea and had shown remorse. He described Lowe as a young man with "a lot of potential" who needed a second chance.

Lowe said of the outcome: "It could have been worse but it could have been better."

He paid $128 in court costs and made a $300 donation to the Auckland SPCA.