By Joseph Nathan, July 2025.
Now 50-year-old Aaron Grant Pickering has been slammed by a judge for what he called “stupid behaviour” that could’ve left the boys — or someone else — with a lifetime of trauma.
“You left a 10-year-old and a 15-year-old with a loaded .308 rifle to go hunting while you went drinking and fishing,” Judge Tony Snell told Pickering in Nelson District Court. “God knows who they might have shot and killed or wounded.”
The boys fired the high-powered rifle at a pig from the beach. They didn’t find it — or check who might have been nearby.
Judge Snell said it was a “massive recipe for disaster” and among the worst examples of offending he’d seen of its kind.
Pickering, who lives in Rai Valley and works at sea on a Niwa vessel, admitted unlawful possession of a firearm and unlawful hunting. His firearms licence had already been revoked in 2009 after a protection order.
Despite knowing he wasn’t allowed firearms, Pickering took the boys to private land on d’Urville Island on January 8. Around 7pm, he dropped them on a beach with the loaded .308 — fitted with a scope and suppressor — and went off to fish and drink.
Soon after, the 10-year-old took a shot at a pig. The boys couldn’t find the animal.
When Pickering’s boat failed, he flagged down help from a nearby vessel and asked the crew to pick up the boys. But when asked who gave them permission to hunt on the land, the boys had no idea — and kept changing their story.
Later, Pickering claimed to police he’d brought the rifle “to put meat on the table” and that he’d thrown it into the sea at Admiralty Bay.
Judge Snell didn’t buy it. “I don’t believe it has been thrown away,” he said, describing the story with “a huge amount of scepticism.”
Pickering’s defence lawyer said his client had “shot himself in the foot” with the charges.
Judge Snell pointed to multiple aggravating factors: Pickering was banned from owning firearms, was hunting without permission, and left two kids with a loaded weapon.
“It was a foolish act on many levels,” he said, handing down 120 hours of community work and a \$2000 fine. He warned that Pickering is unlikely to ever get his firearms licence back — and if it happens again, jail is likely.
A final warning was added to his file.
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