Dad’s lie helped teen get gun licence

THE father of a teenager who planned amass school shooting in the Tasman area gave false details in support of his child’s firearms licence application.

The man, whose name is permanently suppressed, misled an arms officer when he was spoken to as a referee for the application in February 2018 and failed to disclose the then 16-year-old’s mental health problems.

The teen, who was seeing a counsellor once aweek at the time, had anxiety and depression and was on amild to medium dose of medication. The firearms licence was approved.

The teen, who made bombs and had access to an AR-15 rifle, the same type of weapon used by the Australian gunman in the Christchurch mosque shootings, was caught plotting a terror attack.

Investigators following up complaints of ‘increasingly ‘inflammatory’’ social media activity found documents detailing plans to shoot teachers and students at the school.

During their investigation, police learned the teen’s father had not disclosed information about his child’s mental health problems when interviewed as a referee for their firearms licence application.

The man said his child had ‘‘difficulty with shyness’’, which he did not understand to be a mental disorder, and supported the firearms licence application ‘‘in the belief it would assist [the teen] in relation to social activities both active and outdoors’’.

The man was chargedwith supplying false details.

In June, at Nelson District Court, he was discharged without conviction after Judge David Ruth found it would affect his reputation, ability to travel and gain insurance, which was a ‘‘disproportionate response to the level of offending’’.

The teen, now 18, pleaded guilty to a range of charges in October last year after eight months in a secure facility.

In December, theywere sentenced to two years’ intensive supervision and six months’ community detention.