Underworld street shootout
The scene that played out after dark in a quiet New Plymouth culde-sac last year reads like a Hollywood movie script.
An armed underworld figure spots his nemesis, directs his accomplice driver to track him before unloading a volley of shots when his victim doesn’t back down.
When a loaded gun is pointed in his face, the victim reacts, ramming his car into the one driven by his pursuers, before making his getaway. He’s followed by his semiautomatic rifle-toting rival who chases after the vehicle on foot, firing off several more shots, two of which hit the fleeing vehicle.
These are the facts of the case against Erron James Byles and Tyla Zoe Piggott, who both pleaded guilty to their role in a July 20 shooting when they appeared in the High Court in New Plymouth yesterday.
The pair initially faced an attempted murder charge, and a two-week trial had been set down to begin on Monday.
However, the more serious charge was withdrawn, and Byles, 42, pleaded guilty to discharging a firearm with intent to cause grievous bodily harm.
Piggott, who is 24 and a former partner of Byles, pleaded guilty to discharging a firearm with reckless disregard.
The summary of facts set the scene for the crime, and described ‘‘increasing tensions between elements of the Taranaki criminal underworld’’ and the victim.
The ongoing beef related to money owed, stand-over taxing, burglaries and taking of motor
vehicles committed by the victim and others, who were known to carry firearms.
About 2am on July 20, an armed Byles was the passenger in a car being driven by Piggott, which had been borrowed from her grandfather.
Toting a loaded, .22 semiautomatic rifle with a silencer, Byles spotted the victim driving in a stolen vehicle.
Suspecting the victim was armed, Byles told Piggott to follow him as he drove into the Whalers Rise cul-de-sac. Piggott tried to block the victim’s vehicle, then deliberately drove into the car, in an attempt to slow him down.
Byles told the man to stop, but he refused.
Fearing the victim was armed, Byles raised his rifle, firing a volley of shots.
He then pointed the gun at the victim, who rammed into Piggott’s vehicle and took off at speed.
Byles fired several shots at the hightailing victim, and one bullet smashed the car’s rear window, pierced the driver’s head rest and lodged in the door.
The left-hand door of the victim’s car was struck by another shot, as was the side of a house near the intersection of Whalers Rise and Barrett Rd.
A police search of the area found nine, spent shell casings on the road. CCTV footage also captured the shooting on film.
On July 23, the defendants were caught discussing the shooting, after being recorded by police. During the exchange, Byles said he ‘‘shot the victim and was aiming for his head because the victim had rammed them’’.
The victim was not injured in the shooting, and the summary of facts described him and Byles as being ‘‘back on friendly terms’’.
Following the defendants’ guilty pleas, Justice Cheryl Gwyn referred the case to restorative justice.
Byles was further remanded into custody, while Piggott was released on bail, ahead of their sentencing on November 4.
Previously, Piggott’s father Gregory James Moratti was convicted for making a false complaint, after he told the insurance company he had crashed his father’s car, in an effort to get the cost of the damage covered.
Moratti was not linked in any way to the shooting.