Cop shop shooter appeals
A man who sprayed bullets into two police stations in protest about the care his sister was receiving in hospital believes he’s been treated too harshly.
Faraniko Francis Pei has taken his case to the High Court, appealing against his sentence and conviction for using a firearm against a police officer, who feared for her life.
The legal saga has dragged on for nearly two years, thanks to numerous applications by Pei to have the charge thrown out.
It began in August 2015, when his sister Edna was in Palmerston North Hospital suffering from severe lung problems. Pei complained to police about the way she was being treated, but he felt nothing was done.
In a desperate campaign for attention, he got a shotgun and fired shots into the widows of the Highbury Community Policing Centre, in Palmerston North. He then went to the central city police station. He stormed in and fired shots near Constable Raewyn Ross, who later tearfully recalled the traumatic incident.
Pei then went outside, fired shots through the front glass doors and led police on a chase to Whanganui and most of the way back to Palmerston North.
His initial charges did not include the serious count of using a gun against Ross, but this was later added. Pei denied the charge and, before his trial, tried to have it dismissed. He was eventually found guilty. Neither Pei or his family were in the High Court at Palmerston North on Tuesday to hear his lawyer Paul Murray ask Justice Helen Cull to overturn Pei’s conviction and sentence. Murray argued Pei was charged too harshly.
Pei wanted to make a point against police, not Ross.
‘‘His intention was to make a crude point, and a dramatic point... rather than to intimidate the constable,’’ Murray said.
There were cases where a firearm was not fired, but deemed to be used against police, but Murray said they involved direct threats to police. ‘‘The presence [of Ross] was incidental,’’ Murray said. ‘‘There was a deliberate movement away from the constable prior to the firearm being fired.
Crown prosecutor Jamie Eng said Pei was not trying to fatally shoot Ross, but his actions spoke for themselves. ‘‘He knew she was there and knew there would be an adverse effect by shooting,’’ Eng said.
The judge reserved her decision. Pei, who is serving five years and six months’ in jail, is eligible for parole later this year.
After the shooting, police announced some stations in Manawatu would be getting a security upgrade. A review was underway.