Cop feared losing life in ambush

Ambushed and alone, a police officer who came under fire during a routine car stop says his wife now fears for his safety every time he leaves for work.

Sergeant Clive David Wood described the emotional strain he and his family faced following an ambush in February last year, in a victim impact statement he read during the sentencing of Patrick Dixon.

The 51-year-old father of two read the statement at the High Court in Auckland yesterday.

Dixon was sentenced to 121⁄ years jail by Justice Rebecca Edwards for two offences of using a firearm against a law enforcement officer, another charge of threatening to kill and one charge of assaulting a female.

Wood said his wife worried about him going to work every day and he still suffered emotionally after he stopped a car Dixon was in last year.

‘‘It has now changed her perspective of my job,’’ he said.

‘‘This kind of unprovoked violence is becoming more common against police.’’

Unknown to Wood at the time, Dixon, for whom police had an arrest warrant, was sitting in the back seat of that car armed with a shotgun.

Earlier Dixon had punched the woman driver of the car, his expartner, three times and threatened to kill her as they drove from the Coromandel to Auckland.

As Wood started to open his patrol car door to get out, only 4 metres from Dixon, his car was pelted with shotgun bullets.

Dixon’s car took off and Wood decided to pursue him despite being alone in his vehicle, an action Justice Edwards described as a feat of ‘‘remarkable bravery’’.

‘‘He was unarmed and taken completely by surprise,’’ she said.

But Dixon was waiting to ambush Wood, instructing the driver of the car to conceal the vehicle around a bend.

‘‘You were lying in wait for the police officer,’’ Justice Edwards told Dixon.

Dixon then stood by the passenger door of the car waiting for Wood’s arrival, firing ‘‘at least three shots’’, according to Justice Edwards, as Wood’s vehicle came near.

Wood said he feared for his life and was lucky not to have been killed by Dixon.

A member of the public came out of his house to assist Wood.

‘‘I was afraid the offender would kill us both so I told him to go back inside.

‘‘With my damaged car I felt like a sitting duck,’’ Wood said.

‘‘The offender had no regard for me.’’

Crown prosecutor Luke Radich said Dixon was a ‘‘31-year-old man whose criminal history runs to 10 pages’’.

Justice Edwards made note of the fact those previous sentences had not deterred Dixon and that he still proclaimed his innocence despite ‘‘overwhelming evidence’’ at his trial.

‘‘You have shown no remorse, no regret, and taken no responsibility for your offending.

‘‘When you shot at the police officer in this case, you not only threatened him but the very safety of our society.’’