Man guilty over having army pistol
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The man on trial for receiving and possessing a stolen army pistol was found guilty on both counts in the Palmerston North District Court yesterday.
The jury took four hours to reach the verdict and Michael Bob Fiti, 28, was remanded in custody until sentencing on February 2.
The six-day hearing was a retrial, after the last jury could not reach verdicts.
He pleaded guilty to possession of a shotgun found during a November 2006 police and military search to retrieve the 9mm pistol.
He was sentenced to 10 months in jail.
Last week, crown witness and ex- army gunner Levi Haye told the jury of the thrill he got when he stole the pistol from the armoury on October 16, 2006.
"I was full of adrenalin. I had just got away with stealing a pistol from the New Zealand Defence Force."
But after being held in the cells for the theft of the pistol, he told his corporal the gun's whereabouts and who he had sold it to.
They uncovered the pistol hidden in a couch at the Dannevirke freezing worker's home.
Haye was jailed by the army after pleading guilty at a court martial.
- © Fairfax NZ News
