Hunters Must Assume Responsibilities Equal To Use Of Lethal Weapons

Taupo Times, Volume XIV, Issue 61, 5 August 1965, Page 1

Hunters Must Assume Responsibilities Equal To Use Of Lethal Weapons

Following a charge resulting from the wounding of oue pig hunter by another at Hinemaiaia on May 17, Mr G. X Donne, S.M., said that he had at least one of these cases a year. "If you seek to have charge of a lethal weapon, you must assume responsibilities equal to the occasion," Mr Donne warned Douglas John Reynolds, 22, Petone spray painter, in the Taupo Magistrate's Court this week.

Reynolds was convicted on charges of discharglng a firearm without reasonable cause and of procuring a firearm without a permit. He was fined £20 on the first charge and £4 on the second. His brother, Gordon Clifford Reynolds, 27, Lower Hutt machinist, was fined £7/10/- for delivering possession of the firearm without a permit. Prosecuting, Sgt. T. A. A. Marson said D. J. Reynolds had seen a movement in scrub and fired. He wounded another member of the shooting party, C. R. S. Drummond, 28," Karori, in the neck. The bullet entered flesh ' below the chin and not

much harm was done. Sgt. Marson added, however, that the doctor had said that if Drummond had coughed or belched at the tiine of the accident, he might have had his j throat ripped right out. "This is a hunting area, and those who use it must be careful to use it properly," said Mr Donne. The Court would impose imprisonment if need be, he added.