Man hurt mate in hunting accident

A Nelson man has pleaded guilty to using a firearm to cause death or bodily injury, after a hunting accident that left his friend critically injured.

The 27-year-old man, who has interim name suppression, appeared in the Nelson District Court on Monday.

The court heard that the man had been hunting since he was young, and had held a firearms licence since 2015. He and the victim had been friends for a number of years and regularly hunted together.

On January 12, the man was picked up by the victim at 2.45am, and they drove to Marlborough’s Awatere Valley to go hunting. The man had not had much sleep, as he had been caring for a sick dog. As they drove towards Blenheim, he said he felt tired and needed to sleep on the way.

The two men drove to the Black Birch Range, where they intended to go hunting for deer. They arrived earlier than expected, when it was still dark.

Both men got out of the vehicle and began to get ready to go hunting. Their firearms were in their cases on top of one another in the back seat. At the time, the only lighting source was the vehicle’s interior light.

The man put three rounds in a magazine and inserted it in the rifle, then placed a round in the chamber and closed the bolt. The firearm discharged, the bullet passing through the rifle case and striking the victim in the upper thigh before becoming lodged in the rear passenger door.

The man carried the victim, who was bleeding profusely, to the front passenger seat, then drove until he got cellphone reception and called 111.

The victim was flown to Wellington Hospital for surgery. His injuries included a shattered femur, a severely damaged artery and a broken pelvis. He was fitted with an external cage screwed into the bone and a number of plates attached to his pelvis.

He was kept in an induced coma, and was later transferred to recover at Hutt Hospital.

The man went to the Nelson Police Station to report what had happened. He was shaken and distraught about the accident.

Defence lawyer Tony Bamford said the two men had known each other for many years, were best mates and had worked together, and their families knew each other. The man had travelled to Wellington to support the victim’s family.

Bamford said the case was appropriate for restorative justice, which would hopefully have a ‘‘significant and meaningful effect’’ for both men.

He asked that a conviction not be entered, as an application for a discharge without conviction was being considered, and that the case be remanded to allow for a restorative justice meeting to occur.

Judge Richard Russell referred the matter to restorative justice, and said the court would ‘‘go from there’’ to determine the next steps.

‘‘This is carelessness which has had major consequences obviously for the victim.’’

The man was remanded on bail to reappear in the Nelson District Court on April 20.