19 Nov 2020
NEW ZEALAND POLICE v MOFFAT [2020] NZHC 3057
- Citation
- [2020] NZHC 3057
- Court
- High Court
The High Court held the District Court Judge committed errors of law by failing to consider material aggravating factors when assessing gravity (fire ban, proximity to vegetation, warnings from associates, defendant's pyrotechnic certification) and by accepting speculative consequences of conviction unsupported by evidence; therefore the discharge without conviction was unlawful, leave to appeal was granted, the discharge was set aside, a conviction for arson was entered and the matter remitted for sentencing.