Gun dealer's struggle over assault charge

New Zealand's biggest firearms dealer has been charged with assaulting a Customs officer after a fracas at Auckland International Airport.

Christchurch gun shop owner David Tipple was involved in the altercation in July, after his laptop was seized by Customs officials as he was returning from a business trip in Europe.

Police allege he assaulted the officer while trying to get the computer back.

But Tipple last night told Sunday News he was defending the charge.

He also revealed he has a dictaphone recording of the incident, which he says will clear his name and show he had been roughly treated for no reason. A copy of the recording has been sent to prosecuting officers along with a legal letter demanding the charge be dropped.

"I'm hoping they'll see sense before the case and drop the charges," Tipple told Sunday News.

"This comes down to one thing. Did he jump on me, or did I jump on him? And this proves what really happened.

"They didn't have the video behind the glass.

"If they had of had that, then this would have already been sorted out."

Tipple said Customs officers had tried to seize the dictaphone while he was being handcuffed by police but the arresting officers had stopped them from taking it.

"Customs tried to get it from me but the police wouldn't give it to them.

"The police protected me on that and I'm absolutely over the moon for that. I have it with me every day for business. Rather than use a pen, I use my dictaphone. I never go anywhere without it," he said.

Tipple, who is due to appear at Auckland District Court in March on the assault charge, has battled authorities to clear his name before.

In March, Sunday News revealed how a settlement had been reached over an $800,000 lawsuit he had taken against the police.

He reached an agreement for an undisclosed sum over remarks made by the police when his gun licence was revoked in 1999.

The same year a Christchurch district court judge gave Tipple his licence back and awarded him $25,000 costs after finding a police report on the case was "seriously flawed".

But he said he had lost hundreds of thousands of dollars as his shop's profits nose-dived.

In 1992, Tipple was acquitted of shooting and wounding three burglars who ran from his farm shed after trying to steal motorcycles.

The Crown accepted he intended to shoot over the offenders' heads.

- © Fairfax NZ News