Porn baron
and Auckland mayoral candidate Steve Crow is to go to trial on
firearms charges, after a judge refused to guarantee he would be let
off without a conviction.
The 50-year-old adult
entertainment businessman allegedly fired two pistols while visiting
a farm at Whenuapai, West Auckland, in August last year.
He was arrested three
days before last year's Boobs on Bikes parade through Auckland City
to promote his upcoming Erotica show.
"I did some target
practice on a mate's farm," Mr Crow said outside the court.
"(Police) alleged a
sheep had been shot ... but it died of natural causes.
"They had a vet
examine it and he couldn't say what it died of."
Police said on the
night that if no holes were found in the sheep, he would not be
charged.
"It is the last time
I'll cooperate with police. It doesn't pay," Crow said.
Crow appeared in
Waitakere District Court last week on six firearms related charges,
including two of discharging a firearm near a house, two of
unlawfully possessing a firearm and two of carrying an offensive
weapon.
The judge allowed the
hearing to be reported.
Crow's lawyer Guyon
Foley told the court his client was a genuine gun collector and had
been delivering the pistols to a buyer at the time of the incident.
While he had broken
the rules, his "aberrant" behaviour did not justify being "hobbled"
with a conviction, the consequences of which were out of proportion
with the offence, he said.
"This was a foolish
mistake, or a series of mistakes," Mr Foley said.
With a conviction
Crow would not be able to travel to the United States on business
without first applying for a visa and, even then, might be prevented
from entering the country.
Judge Lisa Tremewan
said she was not in a position to accept Crow's suggested
arrangement as to charges if he was given a guarantee that he would
be discharged without conviction.
However, she did
offer to ensure a different judge presided over his defended hearing
so the case could be argued "afresh".
A date for the
hearing would be set tomorrow.
Crow first hit the
headlines over his plans for a controversial porn movie featuring
one of the actresses giving birth.
Last month he threw
his hat into the mayoralty ring after launching his 1Auckland.com
party, invoking the wrath of lobby group One Auckland Trust which
claims its name has been hijacked.
