Policeman leaves force after gun threat trauma

A POLICE officer who had a firearm waved in his face at a police station was so traumatised that he quit his job.

Brendon Berkett fell backwards on to the floor as he ducked out of the way, not knowing he was staring down the barrel of a fake firearm.

‘‘I was waiting for the gun to go off, but it didn’t and I wondered why,’’ the former constable said yesterday after Vincent Mizzi admitted threatening him early on Christmas Day last year.

Mizzi, 44, walked into the Hastings police station and shouted profanities at Constable Mark Anderson, and threatened to stab him, a police summary says.

Hours before, Mizzi had jumped out of the darkness and threatened to stab Constable Andrew Chantrey, who was following up complaints about the noise coming from a Hastings property. Mr Chantrey seized a stereo and left the property.

An agitated Mizzi went to the station and refused to leave. Mr Anderson did not know Mizzi was hiding a fake firearm in his clothing, the summary says.

He then lifted the gun to his waist and pointed the barrel at Mr Berkett, who had come to assist. He fell backwards through an internal door, shouting: ‘‘He’s got a gun.’’

Mizzi stood over Mr Berkett momentarily, before dropping the firearm and leaving the foyer, police say. He was arrested while trying to leave the station. When spoken to by police, Mizzi said he wanted them to leave him alone.

Mr Berkett told The Dominion Post that Mizzi was well known as being violent towards police.

The firearm looked frighteningly real as he stared down its barrel. ‘‘It’s one of those things every cop fears.’’ He treated every gun as if it was loaded, he said. As he hit the floor, he feared he would never see his family again.

He was so traumatised that he suffered flashbacks of the incident.

Supportive colleagues helped him through a tough few weeks, but it made him reflect on his life and the risks involved in being a police officer.

He no longer felt safe doing his job and decided to leave the force.

He said he had been much happier since he left.

Mizzi pleaded guilty to possessing an imitation firearm and three charges of threatening to cause grievous bodily harm when he appeared in the Napier District Court yesterday.

He was remanded in custody until October for sentencing.