Category: Public Media

Source: Radio New Zealand

The family of a young man shot and killed by a hunter on Stewart Island last year say the hunter’s failure to identify his target has left them facing a “lifetime of hell”.

Ashburton builder Paul William John Stevens, 39, has avoided jail time and instead been sentenced to five months’ home detention for shooting Jock Davies, 21, last July.

He had earlier pleaded guilty to a charge of careless use of a firearm causing death.

At the Invercargill District Court on Tuesday, Judge Russell Walker ordered Stevens to make $20,000 in reparation payments, split equally between a scholarship in Jock Davies’ name for West Otago students and a New Zealand Deerstalkers Association hunter safety course.

Davies’ mother Sarah Davies told the court she never anticipated her son, who was a cancer survivor, would not return from the week-long much-anticipated hunting trip with his father and brothers.

“I miss Jock every day, I miss the twinkle in his eye, his naughty sense of humour. I miss his laughter, the way he used to light up a room. I miss his resilience, his kindness and I miss him leaving the lights on. Jock was one special human,” she said.

Davies’ oldest brother George Davies told Stevens that he had failed as a firearms licence-holder and the family was facing “lifelong effects” as a result.

He spoke of the trauma of seeing his brother after the shooting.

“The impact of having to carry my dead brother up the hill to rescuers is something I will have to live with forever, it’s something no-one should have to do. It was meant to be a trip of a lifetime which turned into a lifetime of hell,” he said.

Davies’ brother Tom Davies described the eight months since the death as a “living nightmare”.

“I’ve found myself in a dark hole where I didn’t know what was right or wrong anymore. It has been a battle to leave the house some days,” he said.

Jock Davies had been intending to join him in Christchurch at teachers’ college and it left a “huge ache” in his heart and soul to know that would not happen, he said.

“I’m trying my absolute hardest to be there for my family as we navigate a new way of life,” he said.

Davies’ father Peter Davies said his son had touched many lives, with his funeral attended by more than 1000 people.

“As a dad there should have been so many more proud moments, but now there’s only memories,” he said.

Stevens sat quietly, crying, as the victim impact statements were read to the court.

His lawyer Grant Fletcher told the court that Stevens, a father of two, could not possibly regret his actions more.

“He would do anything to make it right but obviously he can’t,” he said.

“He’s offered his most heartfelt, most sincere, most genuine remorse and regret.”

Reading from a summary of facts, Judge Walker said Stevens and Davies were part of the same group of eight people on the week-long trip, hunting in the South Lords River block.

The group split up on the morning of 6 July and Davies was dropped off from a dinghy, while Stevens and another associate went in the opposite direction to hunt.

Stevens told police the terrain was “gnarly and hard-going,” he said.

“You said you were not used to hunting in such thick and challenging bush.”

Stevens heard a shuffling noise 20 metres away and saw a “dark shadowy image”, he said.

“Confident it was a deer and not wanting to miss the opportunity, you chambered a round in your rifle and fired a single telescopically-aimed shot,” he said.

“You aimed for what you believed was the neck area of the deer.”

A rescue helicopter was dispatched at about 11am but when it arrived two hours later Davies was dead, he said.

Judge Walker found Stevens’ actions to show a “medium-to-high level of carelessness”.

Stevens “would and should have been well aware of the dangers of hunting” but did not attempt to sight the deer with his own eyes, he said.

“The terrain was challenging for you to the extent that you discussed turning back. You were clearly aware that others would have been in the area,” he said.

He found Stevens’ remorse to be genuine and said Davies’ death would have a life-long impact.

“I accept the mental health impact that this has had and will continue to have upon you. It is rightly described as profound,” he said.

From a starting point of 18 months’ imprisonment, Walker deducted eight months for mitigating factors and converted the resulting 10 months’ imprisonment into five months’ home detention.

He also ordered the forfeiture of Stevens’ rifle and ammunition.

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– Published by EveningReport.nz and AsiaPacificReport.nz, see: MIL OSI in partnership with Radio New Zealand

Source: Radio New Zealand

Government officials and major fuel retailer Z Energy are moving to ease any concerns about the country’s fuel reserves.

The US and Israel-led air campaign in Iran has seen the country fire missiles and drones at its Middle East neighbours and threaten to close the strategic Strait of Hormuz, through which about 20 million barrels – a fifth of the world’s traded oil – moves each day.

Iranian strikes have also prompted Qatar – one of the world’s largest gas exporters – to halt production at key facilities, sending European natural gas prices surging by 50 percent in a single night.

The Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment (MBIE) and fuel company Z Energy, said New Zealand had sufficient fuel reserves to withstand any disruption to global supplies.

MBIE said as a member of the International Energy Agency (IEA), New Zealand must hold at least 90 days of oil stocks.

The total was met through a combination of onshore stockholdings held by fuel importers and “oil tickets” – agreements with the governments of the United States, United Kingdom and Japan that allowed oil held overseas to count towards New Zealand’s IEA commitment.

MBIE said the Minimum Stockholding Obligation (MSO) – which came into force on 1 January 2025 – also required fuel importers to hold 21 days of diesel, 24 days of jet fuel and 28 days of petrol within New Zealand, including shipments already in transit within the country’s Exclusive Economic Zone.

“Our data shows that fuel importers routinely hold more than what’s required – and while these figures are commercially sensitive, we can say that we have healthy stock levels and that importers have further ships planned and on their way to New Zealand,” an MBIE spokesperson said.

Diesel holdings would have to rise to 28 days by 2028.

Together, the MSO and overseas “ticket” contracts gave New Zealand more than 90 days of effective cover, meeting its full IEA obligations.

Importers were required to report stock levels regularly to MBIE to ensure sufficient reserves are available at short notice.

Z Energy said it was closely monitoring the rapidly evolving situation in the Middle East, but there was no impact on its ability to source fuel.

“Customers can continue to fill up as normal at any Z station across the country,” a spokesperson said.

The company said it would continue to monitor developments and provide updates as needed.

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– Published by EveningReport.nz and AsiaPacificReport.nz, see: MIL OSI in partnership with Radio New Zealand

Source: Radio New Zealand

A whale has stranded on St Heliers Beach in Auckland.

Project Jonah, alongside the Department of Conservation, responded after a Shepherd’s beaked whale was spotted late this morning.

Spokesperson Louisa Hawkes said Shepherd’s beaked whales lived in the deep sea, and only came up to shore if something was wrong.

Massey University’s Cetacean Ecology Research Group had done an initial assessment of the whale, but needed to assess it further.

Hawkes said volunteers had put the whale on an inflatable set of pontoons in order to take it back out to deep water, rather than waiting for the tide to come in.

Stranded, injured or dead whales should be reported to the DOC emergency hotline 0800 DOC HOT (0800 362 468).

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– Published by EveningReport.nz and AsiaPacificReport.nz, see: MIL OSI in partnership with Radio New Zealand