New Zealand Case Law: Decisions & Judgments

Topic

Firearms possession

Legal area

Court

31 May 2022

R v AL-OBIDI [2022] NZHC 1274

Citation

[2022] NZHC 1274
Court

High Court

Starting point fixed at 13.5 years (11 years for methamphetamine lead offending uplifted 2.5 years for other drug and firearms offending); allowed combined discretionary discounts totaling 60% (20% guilty plea, 20% addiction/PTSD, 5% cultural dislocation, 10% rehabilitation/progress, 5% other matters) resulting in a reduced term, then credited 1.5 years for time on restrictive EM bail (half of 1,092 days) to reach an overall effective sentence of 3 years and 11 months' imprisonment; no minimum period of imprisonment imposed given mitigating factors and rehabilitation.
27 May 2020

HALL, WATENE-TOI & ROBERTS v R [2020] NZCA 183

Citation

[2020] NZCA 183
Court

Court of Appeal

Applying Zhang v R, the Court held the District Court starting points required adjustment: Roberts' offending was within band four but starting point reduced to 12 years given quantity and role; after recognising uplift for firearms and appropriate discounts for EM bail, rehabilitation and guilty plea the concurrent substituted sentences for Roberts are 8 years 10 months, for Watene-Toi 9 years (starting point nine years reflecting significant role), and for Hall 8 years 6 months (starting point reduced to reflect limited but significant role). The Court distinguished EM bail and rehabilitati…
24 Apr 2017

R v HINES & ORS [2017] NZHC 769

Citation

[2017] NZHC 769
Court

High Court

Judge found on the evidence at least one kilogram of methamphetamine was manufactured on 18 April 2015, the offences were committed by an organised gang operation led by Hines and involving named co-defendants, and applied Fatu band four starting points adjusted for individual roles, aggravating features (weapons, precursors, leadership, prior convictions) and limited mitigation (notably Hines' serious ill-health) to impose specified concurrent sentences and minimum periods.
8 Feb 2017

PUTUA v POLICE [2017] NZHC 103

Citation

[2017] NZHC 103
Court

High Court

The Court concluded that while some uplift for prior convictions and for firearms offending was justified, a discrete additional six-month cumulative uplift for the firearms charges was difficult to justify given no firearms antecedents; caution was required to avoid double-counting prior convictions, but on balance an uplift to reflect prior recidivism was proportionate and the overall sentence was not manifestly excessive. The appeal was dismissed and the original sentence of four years six months imprisonment was upheld.

New Zealand Case Law

R v AL-OBIDI [2022] NZHC 1274

HALL, WATENE-TOI & ROBERTS v R [2020] NZCA 183

R v HINES & ORS [2017] NZHC 769

PUTUA v POLICE [2017] NZHC 103