R v Tipple CA217/05

The appeal against both conviction and sentence was dismissed by the Court of Appeal of New Zealand. The appellant, Timothy Holden Tipple, was found guilty of dealing with a firearm with reckless disregard for the safety of others under s 53(3) of the Arms Act 1983. On 19 June 2004, Tipple supervised a shooting party on his parents' deer farm, providing firearms and ammunition and instructing the group on handling and firing the weapons. The party fired at a target in a paddock with Marshlands Road, where traffic was visible, lying beyond. A bullet from one of the rifles hit a vehicle on the road, narrowly missing the occupants. Tipple was convicted and sentenced to 140 hours of community work and ordered to pay $1,050 in reparation.

The appeal against conviction was based on three grounds: Tipple did not deal with the rifle; the jury was misdirected as to the meaning of "reckless disregard" and "reasonable cause"; and the jury's verdict was unreasonable or not supported by the evidence. The court found that Tipple's actions in providing the firearms and instructing the shooting party brought him within s 53(3). The court also held that the trial judge's directions to the jury on "reckless disregard" and "reasonable cause" were accurate and adequate. Lastly, the court found that there was ample evidence that the target shooting endangered other people, and that Tipple appreciated that but proceeded regardless.

The appeal against sentence challenged the trial judge's refusal to exercise his discretion under s 107 of the Sentencing Act 2002 to discharge Tipple without conviction. The court found that the consequences of a conviction were not out of all proportion to the gravity of the offence and dismissed the appeal against sentence.