Name Suppression Farce Continues - Updated

The new national game of 'Name Suppression - pin the tail on the Ass', which is very much in the news at the moment, has reached the level of a Pythonesque farce when it was revealed that the man accused of attempting to murder a police officer (Jeremy Snow) in Papatoetoe just before Christmas (see blog post police officer shot in Paptoetoe) has been granted continued name suppression. He had it removed yesterday only to have it reinstated within an hour pending an appeal to the High Court.

The man* supposedly gave his reason for requesting name suppression as being this - his mum was abroad, couldn't be contacted and he didn't want her finding out from the press. Ok, but that was back at Christmas, surely someone should've tracked her down by now? if she's that out of contact she's hardly likely to be reading press reports about allegations that junior gunned down a rookie cop back home.

We can only surmise that the major reason for the suppression has been suppressed along with his name and that all will be revealed in the fullness of time.

Meanwhile, more importantly, Constable Snow is slowly recovering from his physical and psychological injuries in his Auckland flat and is being cared for by his parents, he's still in a wheelchair and may need a bone graft on his left leg. His recovery may take months, we wish him a full recovery and hope he's back doing the job he loves very soon.

The damages to the NZ judicial system may take longer to heal unless changes to the law are made very swiftly.
See:  Government will look closely at Law Commission report, 16 Nov 2009:

"The report recommends significant changes for name suppression. "There is merit in having tougher standards before people can get name suppression, and in specifying in legislation the ground on which suppression can be granted," Mr Power said.

The commission said courts currently had "broad discretion" to block the publication of names and identifying information. The suppression of names or evidence should be restricted to exceptional cases and be made for compelling reasons, the report said.

Reasons should be specified in legislation and should reflect a high threshold.
The commission said name suppression should be used only where there was a risk of prejudice to a fair trial, undue hardship to victims and the accused or would identify another person who has suppression."

Meanwhile a 'prominent Northland Civil Servant' is also seeking name suppression after pleading guilty to four minor fraud charges - switching price stickers on supermarket goods - the press can't even reveal which government department the man works for. Do the public have the right to know about the criminal convictions and honesty of its public servants? all will be decided next week. link

Update 15 January
* The accused man has been charged with a string of offences:
Attempted murder.
Shooting with intent to do grievous bodily harm.
Unlawfully possessing firearms including .22-calibre rifles, one with a silencer, and a double-barrelled shotgun.
Possessing methamphetamine.
Unlawful possession of a 2006 Audi car valued at $30,000.
Assaulting Kenneth Caine using a firearm as a weapon.
Assaulting Phillip Andrew Kingi using a firearm as a weapon.
Assaulting Amanda Riley using a firearm as a weapon.
Possessing a .38-calibre pistol.
(source NZ Herald)

 Today's posts - click here

Police Officer Shot in Papatoetoe, Another Armed Siege On The Streets Of NZ

A policeman has been shot in the leg at a property at Buckingham Crescent Papatoetoe, South Auckland during a routine patrol around 4.10am today.

View Larger Map of Buckingham Crescent

An armed stand-off has developed and police have yet to make an arrest. A police report stated:

"At 4.10am today a 28 year old, male Police Officer was shot several times outside a house in Buckingham Crescent, Papatoetoe.


"A police patrol vehicle noticed a suspicious vehicle in a driveway. The vehicle had its hazards lights on and the two officers presumed it had been interfered with, one officer approached the vehicle on foot and was shot at in the darkness," says Superintendent Mike Bush, District Commander for Counties Manukau Police.

"Police assistance arrived at the scene almost immediately and six officers entered the scene and recovered the injured officer. I applaud the decision of the senior staff involved in this incident to extract the young Constable in the dangerous situation they were in."

The police officer was shot in his leg and his elbow. He suffered severe blood lost. He is currently at Middlemore Hospital undergoing surgery, his condition is described by medics as serious but stable.
"We are talking to a number of people, one person of significant interest. This person was located close to the scene. We are trying to establish what role he played within the incident. It is believed that there may still be one more offender outstanding," says Mr Bush.

Two firearms have been located at the scene. All staff at the scene are armed and the area is cordoned off."

Our thoughts and hopes for a full and speedy recovery are with the injured officer and his family.

Not counting armed robberies it's been a while since an armed siege has happened in NZ, the last one was in June when a paraplegic man was shot dead in Burnside, Christchurch.

In May Jan Molenaar shot dead a police officer and critically injured three other people in Napier (see Armed sieges and gun politics in NZ) and in January innocent bystander Halatau Naitoko was killed in cross fire in an armed stand-off that brought an Auckland motorway to a stand still.

This latest shooting of a police officer in the line of duty (the 7th in 18 months) is bound to re-ignite the debate about arming NZ's police.

Firearms commonplace in NZ
New Zealand has 11 times as many guns per capita as Britain and 60 percent more than Australia (police are armed in Australia) There are an estimated 230,000 licensed firearms owners using approximately 1.1 million firearms, enough for 1 in 4 of the population. There are no figures for the number of weapons illegally owned by unlicensed people.

During a call to one domestic incident in a house in Otahuhu, South Auckland police came across an arms cache of about 45 high powered shot guns and rifles and ammunition.


Today's posts - click here

Armed Robbery At Dairy Was Its Third In Four Years

The NZ Herald is carrying a story today about another armed robbery at a dairy in New Zealand. This is getting to be an regular occupational hazard for the owners of many small businesses, most of them unfortunately are migrants.

On this occasion it was the Caspar Dairy, Great South Rd, Papatoetoe that was hit.

Owner Ruth Zhu had a long barrelled firearm pointed at her by three youths on Wednesday night. She managed to sound an alarm and the thugs made their escape in a white vehicle, headed in the direction of Puhinui Rd.

Guns used more and more in dairy robberies
A sample of crimes from the last year:

May 1 Mark Zhang was robbed at gunpoint at his Candy Corner dairy, Palmerston North at about 5.30 in the evening. The robber escaped on his BMX with a couple of hundred dollars in cash.

November 2008 A female worker at Crinan St dairy, Invercargill was held up at 6.20am at by a kid with a gun who'd been in the store earlier buying candy. In October 2007 the same dairy had been held up with a knife.

September 2008 Shankar Patel of the Gemini Dairy, Wainuiomata experienced his second robbery at gunpoint in New Zealand, the thieves got away with $300.

August 2008 Galaxy dairy, Upper Hut was held up at 8 at night by three men wielding a hand gun.

July 2008 Xu Mei Ying was working at her family's Lynnray Dairy, New Lynn, Auckland when a lone man entered with a long-barrelled firearm. She was shot in the arm when she raised the alarm. The thief stole cigarettes from the store. It was the second time in six months that the shop had been robbed.

June 2008 Navtej Singh, owner of a Manurewa liquor store died after being shot in the chest at point blank range by four men who held up his shop. There was a storm of protest over the length of time it took to render aid to the injured man.