A man who was wrongly accused of being involved in a drive-by shooting was driven around at gunpoint before being taken to a remote, rural property where he was forced to lie down on his back.
Valley Harrison, 31, then loaded his pump action shotgun before pointing it at the man and firing it near his head.
The victim managed to get to his feet and flee across farmland, and even swam across a river, before eventually finding safety at a house, where the occupant called police.
Harrison, together with his co-accused, Christopher Fenton, and relative Samuel Te Moananui, appeared in the Hamilton District Court today where they were sentenced on charges of kidnapping and reckless use of a weapon.
Harrison’s Paeroa home was subjected to a flurry of bullets on May 19, 2022, the impact of which is understood to have even pierced a lounge suite, and by July 14, he was keen to seek retribution.
Thinking that the man was involved, or knew who was, he texted him and asked him if he “wanted to go for a ride”.
Harrison meanwhile rounded up Fenton, 34, and Te Moananui as the driver, before getting the confirmation from the victim he could pick him up from an Aorangi Rd, Paeroa property.
After getting in, the victim immediately noticed the shotgun sitting on Harrison’s lap. He was also in the back seat.
‘Feared for his life’
As they drove out of Paeroa, towards a Puke Rd property, Harrison repeatedly questioned the victim about the earlier shooting before picking up a fourth unknown offender.
The victim was now sitting in the middle of them, with Harrison digging his shotgun into his ribs, and continued to repeat he had nothing to do with the shooting and feared for his life.
The fourth man unzipped the victim’s pocket and stole his cellphone.
Harrison then pointed the shotgun at the victim’s head and told the fourth man to punch him in the head; which he did at least four times.
Harrison told the victim that he would “snap his fingers, shoot him in the foot, and was going to make [him] dig his own hole”.
After arriving at the Hikutaia property, the victim asked Harrison if he was going to kill him, to which he replied, “you haven’t been listening”.
It was then the victim was dragged out of the car by Harrison, while Fenton and the fourth man also got out.
Harrison punched him in the face, causing him to fall backward to the ground.
He then fired the shot next to the victim’s head. The victim got up and ran, as Harrison yelled, “stop”.
Mitigation pleas
Crown solicitor Tobias Taane said Harrison had shown little remorse and in a pre-sentence report appeared to blame others, while Fenton appeared to have a link between his offending and a drug and alcohol addiction.
Te Moananui’s report was more positive as he was still employed and did not have any substance or alcohol issues, and Taane supported a home detention sentence for him.
Counsel Gerard Walsh said Harrison had a lot of support, including from his family and counsellor, who were all in court for him. He was also remorseful and asked for a discount for his upbringing, time on electronically monitored bail, and his motivation to change.
Charles Bean, on behalf of Fenton, said his client was also remorseful and had already been in bars for some time - since December 2022, when “the wheels certainly came off for him” - after breaching his e-bail.
He also pushed for a discount for his client’s addiction issues.
Te Moananui’s counsel, Sacha Nepe, said he had been on e-bail for the past two years without issue and working that whole time, he was also willing to attend restorative justice, did not know the victim, and was only the driver.
She urged the judge to hand down a community detention sentence so Te Moananui, 34, could keep his job and continue working.
‘Could have walked away sooner’
Judge Louis Bidois said Harrison was at risk of reoffending and had an extensive criminal history but accepted he’d been trying to get away from gangs for some time.
He disagreed that Harrison was deflecting blame, rather that he was trying to put into context why the offending occurred.
“Being the subject of a drive-by shooting is something that no one wants, no one asks for and it was the driver ... of trying to get to the bottom of that and he saw that the victim was somehow involved or knew who was responsible and some text messaging has been provided in support of that belief.”
As for the other two, Judge Bidois said they also had to take responsibility for what eventually occurred.
“Both of them acknowledge that they have two feet, they have to stand on their two feet, but they acknowledge that had they been more switched on they could have walked away at a much earlier stage.”
Fenton was jailed for 25 months, while Harrison was jailed for 20 months as he got extra credit for time on e-bail.
Te Moananui was sentenced on just one charge of kidnapping to 10 months’ home detention and ordered to pay $500 emotional harm reparation to the victim.
Belinda Feek is an Open Justice reporter based in Waikato. She has worked at NZME for nine years and has been a journalist for 20.
