A Hampden man who fired shots in the town's main street in November was sentenced to 13 months' imprisonment when he appeared in the Oamaru District Court yesterday.
Christopher Ronald Charles Hazelwood (47), unemployed, appeared before Judge Joanna Maze charged with unlawfully possessing a .22 calibre pistol, recklessly discharging a firearm (a .22 calibre pistol) and driving while disqualified, at Hampden, on November 7.
He was sentenced to 13 months' imprisonment and disqualified for 12 months. An order was made for the confiscation of his Toyota motor vehicle.
He also faced a charge of trespassing at a Nen St address in Oamaru on November 3 and, after being warned to leave by Katrina Margaret Phillips, a woman with whom he had previously been in a relationship, refusing to do so.
On that charge, he was convicted and discharged.
Judge Maze described the reckless discharging of a firearm from the window of a vehicle in Hampden's main street as an ''act of bravado''.
There did not appear to be any actual harm or threat to a person or property but there was an element of premeditation and persistence, Judge Maze said.
Hazelwood was represented by counsel David Jackson, who sought a sentence of home detention. He submitted that Hazelwood's circumstances had changed. He was no longer in a relationship with the younger woman he had left his wife for and he had reconciled with his wife.
Mr Jackson said Hazelwood's wife was very supportive of him.
''Mr Hazelwood knows full well that he has to seek her forgiveness for leaving her for a younger woman,'' he said.
At the time of his offending, he had been off medication and had turned to alcohol.
''In his own words, he was at rock bottom,'' Mr Jackson said.
Judge Maze said home detention was not a ''realistic'' option because it would be insufficient for denunciation and deterrence.
Hazelwood had previously experienced difficulties while on bail, which had ended in the committing of the offences he appeared for sentencing on yesterday.
The .22 calibre pistol had also never been recovered.
''The reconciliation with your wife is recent and circumstances must be fragile,'' Judge Maze said.
''Home detention is just not an option.''
Judge Maze said she had received a number of letters from Hazelwood's associates and ''in their eyes, you are a good person''.
