Man denies shooting at police, car-jacking

Police previously said a man who drove erratically around Foxton fired at them before car-jacking a woman and driving her vehicle to Feilding.

A man who allegedly fired shots at police before he was seriously injured during his arrest has denied any wrongdoing and asked for a trial by jury.

The man has also kept his identity secret, despite a judge saying correct legal procedure was not followed.

The 30-year-old entered his not guilty pleas in the Palmerston North District Court yesterday via an audio-visual link from Manawatu¯ Prison.

He is charged with using a firearm against police, aggravated robbery, failing to stop for police, unlawfully carrying a cutdown .22 pistol and reckless driving.

He was arrested on January 4 after a car chase across Horowhenua and Manawatu¯.

Police previously said a man who drove erratically around Foxton fired at them before carjacking a woman and driving her vehicle to Feilding, where he again fired at police.

The man who was arrested spent most of January in Palmerston North Hospital with abdominal injuries after police used stun grenades during his arrest.

Police were reviewing the arrest and referred it to the Independent Police Conduct Authority

In court yesterday, Judge Stephanie Edwards said a mental health check found the man did not have the defence of insanity available. She initially said the man’s name suppression, which had been in place since his arrest, would lapse as no applications had been filed. The law makes it easy for defendants to get name suppression at their first appearance, but further applications must be filed and a hearing held for the gag order to stay in place. Defence lawyer Tony Thackery said the grounds for suppression had not changed since he filed a large memorandum on the man’s behalf in January.

The reasons for the man’s suppression order were also suppressed in January, so Stuff cannot report what the memorandum contains.

The judge said the lack of a fresh application was not in line with correct legal process, but she granted the man interim suppression until a hearing could be held. She did not set a date for the hearing, but the man will be in custody until May.

The judge also said the case may be shifted to the High Court.

While some serious crimes, such as murder, are always heard in the High Court, more minor charges can be sent there if they have certain features.

Aggravated robbery can be one of those if a loaded firearm was used or was part of a pattern of offending, as well as cases with difficult issues of law or public concern about the alleged offending.