A Northland builder has been found guilty of wounding with intent to cause grievous bodily harm after shooting his former boss in a fit of jealousy.
However, the jury found Alan Joseph Place, 60, of Maungaturoto, 60km southwest of Whangarei, not guilty on four charges of unlawfully possessing firearms.
The jurors deliberated about two-and-a-half hours at the Whangarei District Court yesterday, the Northern Advocate newspaper reported.
The charges related to an incident on July 30, last year, when Place drove to the home of Bryce Underwood in Maungaturoto and shot him in the leg through a glass door.
Crown prosecutor Alice Hyndman, in her closing address, said the key issue was Place's intention to cause grievous bodily harm when he fired a shot at Mr Underwood through the door.
She said Place had been thinking about his former partner's relationship with Mr Underwood after finding them in bed together in March 2008.
Perhaps Place did not mean to kill Mr Underwood, she said, but shooting someone in the lower body did show an intention to cause grievous bodily harm.
Place did not call for medical help after the shooting.
Defence lawyer Arthur Fairley said the Crown's allegation that his client had guns for unlawful, improper and insufficient purposes was false.
Place had inherited some of the firearms from his father and an uncle, and had used them for killing sheep and pigs.
One gun was inoperative, another was 100 years old - while the remaining three were from 1930s through to the 1960s, he said.
Place was remanded in custody to be sentenced on September 25.
