OPINION: Why Urewera gun criminals should be jailed

When four guilty gun criminals are sentenced in the High Court later this month only lengthy jail terms will satisfy justice.

The firearms crimes for which Tame Iti, Emily Bailey, Urs Signer and Te Rangikaiwhiria Kemara were found guilty by a jury in March are at the top end of Arms Act offending.

There is no legal justification or excuse for the armed antics perpetrated by Iti and his fellow offenders.

It is the duty of the sentencing judge to condemn these illegal actions with the full severity of the law.

Today’s decision by the Crown not to seek a retrial on a charge of being members of a criminal organisation – a charge on which the jury could not agree – is a pragmatic course taken partially to minimise further taxpayer costs.

More than $3 million has been spent on the court process already.

An informed public knows that for the Crown to have another go – even if experienced prosecutors felt they were legally and factually justified - would trigger another lengthy and expensive round of legally-aided protest.

The decision not to seek a retrial is no cause for celebration by Iti and his rabble-rousing fellow travellers.

Much fanciful nonsense has been spoken by defence lawyers about a so-called Tuhoe “nationhood” struggle.

One lawyer even claimed outrageously Iti was the New Zealand version of Nelson Mandela.

Rational New Zealanders, on the other hand, see Iti’s actions as bringing shame on Tuhoe.

At the end of the day, the public never heard from the Iti crew about what they were doing with guns and fire bombs, leaving the unavoidable conclusion they were scared the truth would come out under cross-examination.

Having secured convictions for the most serious of Arms Act offending, the Crown must now push for a maximum penalty to punish these four and deter others from following such a wayward path.

A sentencing judge must also have the courage to impose an uncompromising penalty, one which will adequately reflect the public’s abhorrence of serious gun crime.