Former All Black Andrew Hore has been convicted of a firearms offence which could prevent him from attending his children's christening in Britain.
Andrew Hore in court. Photo: RNZ / Peter Newport
Hore was convicted in the Alexandra District Court of supplying a gun to a non-licence holder in a duck shooting incident earlier this year.
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The charge relates to a duck-hunting expedition near Ranfurly in Central Otago earlier this year in which Hore supplied a gun to one of his friends, who had his gun licence revoked in 2012.
That person was later seriously injured when the vehicle they were in was involved in an accident and one of the guns went off.
Hore's defence lawyer told the judge conviction would affect not only his ability to attend the christening of his two with his British wife but would also threaten his income from events linked to the Rugby World Cup.
But Judge Dominic Flatley judge rejected the arguments, calling Hore's attitude to gun safety "cavalier".
He told the court there were far too many firearms incidents in New Zealand, some of them fatal.
Hore was involved in an earlier incident back in 2005, when a protected fur seal was shot dead on the Otago coast in what the judge described as a "grossly irresponsible, spontaneous act of hooliganism".