Jono Galuszka

"Adolescent recklessness" is to blame for two brothers playing with a loaded illegal firearm, leaving one of them dead and the other in prison.

Alex Gideon, 21, will have to live the rest of his life knowing he killed his older brother, the High Court in Palmerston North heard on Friday.

At every court appearance he has had a reminder of the consequences of his actions, with the urn containing his brother’s ashes held either by him or a supporter.

That urn was in court on Friday, when Gideon was sentenced to two years’ and nine months’ imprisonment for the manslaughter of 21-year-old Tyrone Gideon.

Justice David Collins said only "adolescent recklessness" could explain the actions which led to a totally avoidable death.

The two brothers were at Alex Gideon’s Bradford Place, Palmerston North, home on May 19 when Tu Whare Arapere came over.

Arapere, 18, had earlier found a 60-year-old sawn-off doublebarrelled shotgun in an abandoned car. He left the shotgun and three shotgun cartridges at the house.

Tyrone Gideon was also visiting, having travelled from Whangarei the previous day to visit family.

The two brothers loaded the gun, then started posing with it and taking photos of each other.

Alex Gideon cocked the hammers, held the gun at his hip with his finger inside the trigger guard, and pointed it at his brother. The right hammer then fired, the shot striking Tyrone Gideon in the chest. The gun recoiled and the second shot flew into the ceiling.

The brothers’ mother ran into the room and started doing CPR, but Tyrone Gideon died at the scene. Testing by police found the right firing mechanism was faulty, needing only the slightest touch to