A 36-year-old Oxford man has admitted shooting his former business associate in an incident at a Yaldhurst property on July 13.
David John Hunter, a contractor, pleaded guilty in the Christchurch District Court to a charge of wounding with reckless disregard for the safety of others.
He was originally charged with intending to do grievous bodily harm to Dean Walter Louis by discharging a firearm at him, but the charge was amended today.
Defence counsel Chris Shannon said Hunter was not applying for bail, and he was getting medical attention in prison.
Judge John Strettell remanded Hunter in custody to October 19 for sentencing, and read him the first of the three strike warnings under the system that imposes heavier penalties on repeat violent offenders.
The police said Hunter and Louis, aged 30, were associates because of previous business dealings, and Hunter arrived, with an unknown male, at his victim’s house on July 13.
Louis was with two other men, and when he saw Hunter with a firearm hid behind a forklift.
Hunter fired twice, and one of the bullets lodged in Louis’ thigh. Louis ran into an office and locked the door.
Hunter left the property, and Louis was taken to hospital.
The property was the scene of an earlier incident in which Louis was charged with unlawful possession of firearms after a police search in which a dog attacked a police dog and an officer and had to be shot. Louis denies those charges.
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