Former All Black Andrew Hore has gone to the Dunedin District Court to review the police's decision to strip him of his firearms licence.
But the police are sticking to their guns.
“Hore has displayed a total disregard to the [Arms] Act relating to the use of firearms and consumption of alcohol, supply of a firearm to an unlicensed person and failure to meet regulations around security of a firearm,” an affidavit from Inspector Olaf Jensen said.
On May 2, 2015, Hore and five friends spent the day duck shooting but their fun ended abruptly when one of the group – Daniel Parker, whose firearms licence had been previously revoked – was shot in the arm.
The former Highlanders hooker and the other men told paramedics three of them had fallen from the back of an all-terrain vehicle as they drove over uneven ground.
A firearm also came off and discharged, hitting Parker.
But police remain sceptical about the story.
“To date, the alleged accidental discharge of the firearm cannot be explained. Nor can the firearm that discharged be positively identified,” Insp Jensen said.
“The only evidence found at the scene was flesh belonging to Parker that was observed by the attending ambulance officers, adjacent to where Parker was attended to. That flesh was among tussocks.”
Police interviewed Hore three times and said his account was “rather vague and lacking in detail”.
In addition, two volunteer ambulance offers who were first on the scene at the Patearoa property said they heard the men talk about “keeping to the story”.
The female officer described the shooters as “highly intoxicated”, though they all claimed to have drunk six to eight stubbies over a nine-hour period.
One of the men slapped Parker as he lay on the floor, she said, her partner having to push the man away so he could treat the injured party.
Police prosecutor Tim Hambleton said the decision to revoke Hore's firearms licence was the correct one when all factors were considered, including when he shot and killed a protected fur seal in 2005.
He was not a fit and proper person, in police opinion.
The court heard there were also firearms left inside a maimai unattended, which increased the seriousness of the situation.
However, Hore's lawyer David Robinson provided several affidavits to the court which he said spoke pertinently about his client's responsible nature.
He told the court there was conflicting evidence about the shooters' intoxication on the day and there was nothing reliable before the judge to prove his client was unfit to carry a licence.
Mr Robinson said Hore had now been without a licence for about 18 months and there had been no issues with his behaviour during that time.
The court also heard about a Ranfurly constable who had written an affidavit in support of the ex-rugby player, who had allegedly been subject to police disciplinary proceedings.
Insp Jensen said he could not comment on internal staffing issues.
Judge Michael Crosbie reserved his decision.
It is expected to take a couple of weeks before a ruling is released.
