Rifle lie proves costly

A man who gave a friend without a firearms licence a gun to shoot a pig later told police he killed the animal to cover for him.

Ian James Norriss, 44, pleaded guilty in the Nelson District Court yesterday to charges of supplying a firearm and making a false statement.

According to the police summary of facts, Norriss was at home on February 1 when a friend arrived to drop a dog off for breeding. He told Norriss he had an injured pig in a horse float that he wanted to shoot.

Norriss asked him if he had a firearms licence and the man said he did, but Norriss did not view the licence.

He gave his friend, named in the police documents as Luke King, a .270 hunting rifle and ammunition and told him to go up Marsden Valley to shoot the pig.

The man drove to the top of Marsden Valley and parked near the entrance to several tracks where he shot the pig in the back of the horse float.

A number of walkers saw and heard this happen. One witness was disturbed and left the area to walk elsewhere. Police were notified by a member of the public.

The man told Norriss there had been ‘‘a bit of drama with some people’’.

Norriss drove himself to the Nelson Police Station at his friend’s request later that afternoon. He made a statement, saying he drove the pair up Marsden Valley and he shot the pig in the horse float, then apologised to the people who saw it happen.

Police visited Norriss to discuss the matter further. He admitted making a false statement as his friend had asked him to.

Duty lawyer Ian Miller said Norriss understood he had made everything ‘‘much, much worse’’ by lying to police.

‘‘He accepts that is going to result in a reasonably serious conviction.’’

Miller said Norriss was very remorseful and wanted to apologise for his actions. He had already handed his firearms licence in to police.

Judge Bruce Davidson told Norriss that the charge of making a false statement to police was serious. He was convicted on both charges and ordered to complete 120 hours’ community work. An order was made for the destruction of the firearm.