A former diesel mechanic took a gun and fired it into a colleague’s vehicles parked at work amid allegations she was bullied and her complaints were not heard.
Marie Hearn allegedly reported to senior management threats, insults and aggressive behaviour directed at her at a former industrial workplace, but no one did anything about it, she told NZME outside court.
She was sentenced in the Nelson District Court today to four months’ home detention and ordered to pay $4750 reparation after the vehicles were “significantly damaged”.
Her lawyer, Dave Holloway, said Hearn had lost her job as a result of what happened which she explained had arisen from claims she was being bullied at work.
However, she accepted that did not entitle her to take matters into her own hands.
Holloway said Hearn now knew a better path to follow would have been to lodge a personal grievance or a complaint with the Human Rights Tribunal.
He said claims she had called the police in relation to incidents at work were verified.
Holloway said police did attend a 111 call but would not charge the person Hearn alleged assaulted her because there were no independent witnesses.
“She ought to have looked at other options but something about that didn’t sit well with her,” Holloway said.
Bullets fired into cars from road
On June 6 last year, Hearn, who was working at an industrial firm in Nelson, took a gun to work after hours.
She parked on the road and fired about eight rounds at two cars belonging to a colleague, hitting both of them, according to the police summary of facts.
The bullet holes were consistent with a smaller-calibre rifle round, police said.
On September 16, police searched the workplace premises and found Hearn with 59 rounds of .22 calibre ammunition, stored in a toolbox at the premises.
On the same day, police searched Hearn’s Nelson home and found 21 shotgun rounds. They also found a .22 rifle stored beneath the house.
She admitted charges last December of discharging a firearm in a public place, possessing a firearm after her licence had been revoked and two charges of possessing ammunition unlawfully.
‘Inherently dangerous’
Hearn told police she had acquired the firearm and ammunition at the time she held a firearms licence, and initially denied shooting the vehicles.
Holloway said there was no independent evidence anyone saw her do it and Hearn felt it unfair that police were prepared to charge her but not the person she alleged had assaulted her.
Police said discharging a firearm in a public place was inherently serious.
Prosecutor Rebecca Terry said police understood the context, which would have been distressing for the defendant, but it was not the right way to deal with the grievance.
“The danger to the public needs to be underlined,” Terry said.
She said the victim had been approached about providing a statement, but had chosen not to.
Judge Chris Macklin said premeditation was an aggravating feature and so was the extent of the damage.
“In terms of discharging a firearm in a public place, it has to be viewed at the most significant end.
“There were eight shots fired at two bits of valuable property and a significant amount of damage done to both,” Judge Macklin said.
He acknowledged the background of animosity between her and the victim, and that he wasn’t unsympathetic to workplace bullying, but did not adjust the sentence because “there was no excuse” to resorting to using a firearm.
From a starting point of 10 months in prison, Hearn was given credit for her lack of any previous offending plus her guilty pleas to arrive at a sentence of seven months in prison commuted to four months’ home detention with six months’ post-detention conditions on the lead charge of discharging a firearm in a public place.
An order was made for the destruction of the firearm.
Animal rescue volunteer
Hearn said she was now on a benefit and struggling financially but spent her time volunteering at a small, private animal rescue organisation.
The owner told NZME she was stunned by Hearn’s offending.
She was aware of Hearn’s lifelong struggles, and was always impressed with the level of patience and care she showed towards vulnerable animals.
“You need a lot of patience to work with animals and she is always so incredibly patient and kind.
“She just loved the animals,” the woman said.
The 62-year-old talked publicly about a decade ago about undergoing gender reassignment surgery in Thailand, and her struggle at work after her transition.
