Man fined for illegally shooting his sick horse with gun borrowed from friend

A man who borrowed a gun to shoot a sick horse was told by a judge it would probably have been cheaper to call a vet.

On Thursday, Brian Terrence Crow pleaded guilty to two charges of unlawfully possessing a firearm and ammunition.

Detective Sergeant Dave MacKenzie told the New Plymouth District Court police had searched Crow’s property on May 23 and found a .22 rifle in the back of a car.

Crow had previously held a firearms licence in 2008 but that was revoked in 2013 when some- one took a protection order against him.

MacKenzie said when officers asked Crow why he had the rifle, he told them he had borrowed it from a friend so he could shoot a sick horse on his property.

He also asked Judge Lynne Harrison to grant an order for the destruction of the gun and the ammunition.

Defence lawyer Kylie Pascoe said there was no dispute there had been a sick animal on the property and the gun had been placed straight back in the car after it was used.

She said police had initially been at the property to search for cannabis but no drug charges had resulted from the visit.

Crow had returned home while police were conducting the search and when the detective in charge asked him if there were any firearms at the property, he showed them the gun in the car.

Police had also left some of the ammunition at the property which Crow had subsequently handed in.

Pascoe said the person who had loaned him the gun did have a firearms licence and had lent it to Crow thinking he was also licensed. Given this, she asked the judge for the gun to be returned to its owner instead of being destroyed.

Judge Harrison said she took into account the reason Crow had the gun as well as the assistance he provided police.

On each charge, she fined him $400 plus $130 in court costs.

‘‘It was probably going to be cheaper for you to call the vet,’’ she then told Crow.

She ordered the gun to be destroyed if the owner did not claim it.