Shot fired after dispute

A shot was fired at a house near Invercargill after a man and a youth confronted the occupants.

Scott Malcolm Crawley, 25, appeared for sentencing at the Nelson District Court yesterday on a charge of unlawfully being in a building. He had earlier pleaded guilty.

The police summary said on March 1, Crawley was at an address in Isla Bank, north-west of Invercargill, where he had been drinking alcohol.

At about 2am the following morning, Crawley and a youth went to a neighbouring address to confront the occupants about an incident two weeks earlier that had involved the victim’s 13-year-old son.

The youth had started banging loudly on the front door of the house, causing minor damage to the metal panelling and waking the people inside.

After being told to leave, the youth told the victim he wanted to kill the 13-year-old and was going to get a gun and come back.

When Crawley and the youth returned to the driveway soon after, the victim produced a firearm and fired a warning shot from the back door of his house.

Crawley and the youth then left the scene. In his statement to police, Crawley said he had gone to the address to accompany the youth ‘‘as he knew that things were going to get heated’’.

Judge Barkle said the situation had been escalated by the influence of too much alcohol. He sentenced Crawley to 80 hours community work, and convicted and discharged him on a count of failing to answer police bail.

The victim had also been charged with unlawfully discharging a firearm.