Offender’s shot to the face a ‘wake-up call’

Murray James Allan has realised he was lucky to be standing in the court dock to be sentenced after he pulled an imitation pistol on police and was shot in the face.

The realisation took a while, but his sister noticed it during her regular visits to him while he was in prison on remand.

She will provide a supportive family environment for the 24-year-old when he is released from prison in about two months.

While he lives there, he will have special conditions to treat the methamphetamine addiction that nearly got him killed.

‘‘It’s not a game,’’ Judge Bridget Mackintosh said at Allan’s Christchurch District Court sentencing yesterday, as she jailed him for 18 months. He has already served the equivalent of a 14-month term.

Defence counsel Serina Bailey told the court: ‘‘

He realises fully that it could have been a fatal shooting and nothing has woken him up as much as that night.’’

The shooting had been the reality check he needed and he was keen to undergo rehabilitation, she said.

Judge Mackintosh told Allan: ‘‘I think you have had some valuable time now to reflect on that and to realise what could potentially have happened to you if you kept moving in these murky circles.’’

Allan, who now has posttraumatic stress disorder, wanted to meet the three police involved to apologise, but that may not happen.

Judge Macintosh noted at least one of the officers had believed it was a ‘‘life or death situation’’ that night, and they had worried about the consequences for their families.

‘‘Police officers sign up for duty, but they don’t sign up to be shot,’’ the judge said.

Allan had admitted charges of assault with a weapon, unlawful possession of an imitation firearm and ammunition, and three charges of dishonestly using stolen cheques.

The incident happened when two police officers were patrolling in Woolston about 2am on February 4, looking for a suicidal man. They spoke to two men they saw in a parked car.

One of the officers believed he saw a cannabis pipe in the car and told the men the car would be searched. He also requested backup because he recognised Allan.

Police intelligence previously advised that Allan was believed to have a firearm.

The officers told the men to keep their hands up and in sight.

They saw Allan reach into a backpack in the car’s footwell and remove a pistol.

‘‘He directed the pistol in the direction of one of the constables,’’ one officer said.

The third constable to arrive immediately fired and hit Allan on the right side of his face.

Once he was no longer seen as a threat, police provided first aid and called for an ambulance, which took him to Christchurch Hospital.

When the car was examined later that day, a blank firing pistol was found on the passenger side of the dashboard. It contained two rounds in the magazine – one a blank round, but the other a 9mm live round capable of being fired.