Restaurateur had round in gun barrel

Press, 18 June 1986, Page 11

Restaurateur had round in gun barrel

A restaurateur was said in the District Court yesterday to have gone to the property where the owner of the restaurant was staying, at 1.15 a.m. on January 27, and threatened to blow him away. The police were called and found a shotgun, with a live round in a barrel, in the defendant’s car. After a defended hearing, Michael Geoffrey Lanagan, aged 35, was convicted of charges of having a shotgun without lawful purpose in Perry Street, and driving while disqualified, on January 27. Judge Fraser remanded him on bail for sentence on July 2 on these charges, and on a separate charge, to which he pleaded guilty, of driving while disqualified in Kaiapoi on March 21. Mr P. N. Dyhrberg appeared for Lanagan. Sergeant M. P. Caldwell prosecuted. Prosecution evidence was that after the person who sub-leased the restaurant to Lanagan, Paul Jones, a contractor, had told him to remove a sign in the restaurant, Lanagan went to the property .where Mr Jones was staying at 1.15 a.m. Mr Jones did not wish , to speak with Lanagan at that time of night, and , closed the door, after seeing another person on the .. property with something in his hand, and looking aggressive. Stones were then thrown on the roof and Mr Jones heard Lanagan say he had one up the spout and was going to blow him away, or blow his head off. The police were called, and found Lanagan leaving the property. Another person, employed by Lanagan, was found hiding. In Lana- , gan’s car the police found

a shotgun on the front seat, with a live round in the right barrel. There was no firing hammer for this barrel. The left barrel, which was empty, had its hammer intact. The police conceded that the barrel in which the cartridge was found was inoperative. In the car boot were several other weapons of replica or antique type. Evidence was that Lanagan told the police he had taken the firearms from the wall of the restaurant, where they had been displayed, as Mr Jones had told him to leave the restaurant because he would not accept removing the sign. , A constable said Lanagan told him he had driven his car to the property, and was a disqualified driver. Lanagan, in evidence, said he did not drive the car that night. His employee with him had driven the car and he had told the constable this. He said he had been told by Mr Jones that his lease of the restaurant was terminated the next day, because of his refusal to remove the sign, relating to licensing. As the restaurant was his livelihood he had gone to discuss the matter with Mr Jones, after finishing that night’s work at the restaurant. He denied making any threats to Mr Jones. He said he had removed his weapons from the restaurant because of the threat of terminating his lease. He did not know there was a cartridge in the gun until the police told him. He had purchased it from an antique dealer and assumed it had been in the gun when he bought it. He had not checked the weapon.