Molenaar wanted 'blaze of glory'

Napier siege gunman Jan Molenaar told associates he would not be taken by police and decided to go out in a blaze of glory, a coroners court was told today.

The officer in charge of the siege in May last year, Detective Superintendent Rod Drew, said Molenaar saw himself as a local hero standing up to gangs and protecting his neighbourhood.

Mr Drew was giving evidence in Napier District Court on the first day of an inquest into the death of Molenaar, who was found dead in his house with a .38 revolver wound.

Senior Constable Len Snee, was fatally shot while doing a police search of Molenaar's house for drugs, and two other officers and a civilian were seriously injured when Molenaar opened fire with a high powered rifle in the siege which lasted three days.