You may remember the case of Knob Oddy, the poor family man who police decided to victimise for no reason other than he had made some mean posts on X. I spoke with him when I was at Reality Check Radio.
This man, who we will call ‘Gareth’ was visited at his home, at dinner time by armed police.
After numerous OIA request responses, and an intervention by the Free Speech Union, Te Tari Pūreke (Firearms Safety Authority) have decided that ‘Gareth’ has broken no laws, won’t be prosecuted, and they’ve given his licence back. They’ve even written a letter confirming this, where the last paragraph is a threat to ‘Gareth’ that he should stop sending mean posts on X or he’ll be facing the same treatment again.
As you can see ‘Gareth’ has a clean record. That didn’t stop the police victimising his family though. Oh no... he was committing ‘thought crimes’ so needed several armed police to give him a tickle up.
You see the police have profiled him, and OIA documents show that they believed he was a 'sovcit' with an ideology... so they decided to rough him up to see.
As you can see ‘Gareth’ has done nothing wrong. He has broken no rule or law. The police have just decided that they don’t like what he says on X. But they repeat that what he was saying was ‘lawful but awful’. That's not a crime.
What is more alarming however is that they ignore the fact he has done nothing wrong, but press on with roughing him up and trying to now fit a crime, any crime, that they can pursue him on.
But they say repeatedly, “not met the threshold to be a person of interest”.
Now these fools have egg on their faces after the intervention of the Free Speech Union. They’ve give ‘Gareth’ his licence back, but not before threatening him again, that if he continues to post ‘lawful but awful’ content then he can expect more of the same.
Now, the observant among you will note that Senior Sergeant Stewart Neal quotes Sections 27C and 60A of the Arms Act 1983 as the reason for revocation of his licence. Yet the police’s own documents released under the OIA say otherwise. Someone is telling porkies. It is either, as Senior Sergeant Stewart Neal states, a case where sections 27C and 60A apply or, it is what police have released under the OIA which states section 24A(2)(c). This is where it gets interesting.
Section 24A(2)(c) states;
In determining whether, for the purposes of this Act, a person is a fit and proper person to be in possession of a firearm or an airgun, the member of the Police may take into account—
(a) whether the applicant—
(i) has a sound knowledge of the safe possession and use of firearms:
(ii) understands the legal obligations of a holder of a firearms licence, including the endorsements that may be made on a firearms licence; and
(b) any other criteria prescribed in regulations made under section 74(1)(bc); and
(c) any other relevant matters the member of the Police considers appropriate.
This must be read in conjunction with 24A(1), none of which remotely applies to any of the circumstances of this case. Not one. Not even close.
That’s what police documents state. Now we have Senior Sergeant Stewart Neal’s letter which conjures up new ‘offences’. Section 27C relates suspension and refers to Section 60A, which relates to domestic violence. Which, again, does not apply in ‘Gareth’s’ case at all.
What we are seeing here is the bullying of someone who has committed no crime, where the sections of the Arms Act 1983 do not and have never applied to ‘Gareth’s’ personal circumstances, all done on the basis that he may have ‘sovcit ideologies’.
This is an outrageous case of police bullying on the basis of ‘Gareth’ saying mean things about police. That’s it basically.
Those of you in the collection community know all about Senior Sergeant Stewart Neal. He was the guy behind the appalling victimisation by police of Bob Keenan, an infirm 81 year old who was rousted out of his house, had guns confiscated in the dead of the night on a spurious and unproven claim that this nice pensioner was associated with gangs. As a result of the stress of this harrassment, sadly Bob “Cowboy” Keenan passed away.
Senior Sergeant Stewart Neal wrote a letter that was sent to “Cowboy” Bob, two days after he died stating he could have his guns back.
“Cowboy” Bob's lawyer Nicholas Taylor had this to say about Senior Sergeant Stewart Neal:
Taylor, a firearms expert, said the family would seek an apology and “appropriate disciplinary action” through the Independent Police Conduct Authority.
After writing to police, Taylor received a reply from Senior Sergeant Stewart Neal saying Keenan could collect his guns.
“Police have genuine concerns that your address may be the target of organised criminal gangs. Police still hold these concerns,” it said.
The letter arrived days after Keenan died on November 23.
Taylor said it was one of the worst letters he had seen in his career.
“There was no, ‘We are sorry we searched your home and removed all your guns and put you through all this trauma’.
“This has contributed to Bob’s death, the stress and the trauma he went though, without any recognition at all.”
Taylor believed police made multiple errors and breached the Bill of Rights. They had no evidence Keenan had broken the law, he said.
Stuff
Well, well, well, three holes in the ground. We have almost exactly the same situation, spurious and arguably illegal warrantless searches and confiscation of licences and firearms for no good reason.
And it’s the same senior sergeant.
What is particularly galling is that in ‘Gareth’s’ case there was nothing other than some hurty words about the police that escalated into armed police rousting the poor family man for no good reason.
His posts on X were ‘lawful but awful’, yet the police just carried on their witch hunt to try and get him on something, anything, to teach him a lesson. We know that was their intention, and it happens all too often.
Meanwhile police’s own staff are breaking the law with regards to firearms and hacking offences and nothing is even done about it. They didn’t even lightly soak a bus ticket to slap him with. They just swept it all under the carpet, accepting the lamest excuse possible, that the bent cop wanted to hide his purchasing of guns from his missus.
And they wonder why no one in the firearms community has any respect for police or their new fangling and failing business unit, that employed a proven liar in Mike ‘in the rear with gear’ McIlraith and Senior Sergeant Stewart Neal.
It is high time that there were some sacrificial sackings to help gain back respect from the firearms community.
This nonsense has got to stop.
