West Coast man compared himself to Oklahoma bomber

File photo / NZPA

A Reefton man who threatened to blow up Parliament in several letters to high ranking officials or ministers of the Crown was today placed on a good behaviour bond for 12 months.

Robert Frank Terry, 59, of Reefton, admitted in the Greymouth District Court one charge of threatening to damage property, but that was representative of six letters Terry sent. The other five charges were withdrawn but the Crown's summary remains the same.

In the first letter to Chief Justice Dame Sian Elias, Terry said he had a "God given right to declare war on the Crown'', adding: "Robert Terry is an expert in terrorism. Like Timothy McVeigh. He is a trained elite warrior, capable of mixing ammonia, nitrate and diesel to the required high standards. As a trained electrician, he has the proven ability to wire up the circuits required. The chances of stopping him ramming a three-tonne truck into Parliament would be about zero.''

Other letters to Justice Minister Judith Collins, West Coast-Tasman MP Damien O'Connor, Ministry of Justice chief executive Andrew Bridgman, and New Zealand Law Society president Jonathon Temm, carried similar remarks and claims that Terry was a "soldier''.

In a telephone call to Ms Collins' secretary he repeated his bomb-making abilities and said: "You could do nothing if I blew up Parliament now.''

Terry told police he was simply exercising his right of free speech.

He had planned to defend the charges but pleaded guilty today "to save the taxpayer the expense of a jury trial''.

The Crown sought a minimum sentence of a fine and/or community work but Judge Graham Hubble, noting that Terry had strictly adhered to a good behaviour bond in the past, ordered him to come up for sentence if called within 12 months.

On an unrelated charge of using a telephone to harass a woman, Terry maintained his not guilty plea and will have a defended hearing later in the year.