Uni student in court for allegedly having taser in halls of residence

A University of Canterbury student who appeared in court for allegedly possessing weapons at his halls of residence was again charged a day later with allegedly possessing a taser.

The 20-year-old, who has name suppression, appeared at the Christchurch District Court today for his second appearance where a new charge was laid for possession of a taser, which is classed as a restricted weapon.

He was initially charged with possession of an extendable baton and knife after police were called to a university address on October 19. Today, the charge for possession of an extendable baton was withdrawn and a new charge for possession of a taser was laid.

Court documents state the incident arose after staff at the halls of residence contacted police in the early hours of the morning on October 19 due to concerns about the man’s wellbeing.

The court heard the man was outside talking with security before leaving and was later arrested by police.

It’s alleged in court documents that police found a small handheld taser in the man’s room. They also allegedly found a hunting style flick knife in the man’s possession when he was walking south on Waimari Rd.

The man’s lawyer Andrew Riches said the man has since been banned from his halls of residence and was unable to finish his studies which added to the stress on his mental health.

He said there had been some misreporting and confusion surrounding the case due to the wrong charge being laid initially but clarified that this incident had nothing to do with firearms charges.

Riches asked Judge Tom Gilbert to adjourn the matter for three weeks as police were considering a diversion for the charges. He also needed to look into the case law on what a restricted weapon could be in relation to the taser.

Riches asked Judge Gilbert to continue his client’s interim name suppression, which was not opposed by police. The judge granted this until his next appearance.

The man was remanded on bail until his next appearance on December 7.

During the man’s last appearance in October, his previous lawyer said he had been wrongfully charged in relation to possession of a restricted weapon, stressing that he faced no firearms charges.

Last month police withdrew the possession of a restricted weapon charge and replaced it with possession of an offensive weapon during his last appearance.

The man’s lawyer at the time said media had “speculated” as to what his client was charged with and the possession of a restricted weapon charge “should have never been laid”.

However, court documents reveal that a day later, police laid a new charge of possession of a taser, which charging documents classify as a restricted weapon.

 - Emily Moorhouse, Open Justice journalist