Iti sentenced to 30 months

Stuff reports:

The four – Iti, Urs Signer, Kemara and Emily Bailey – were found guilty of unlawful possession of military-style firearms and Molotov cocktails at training camps held in the Urewera Ranges in 2006 and 2007.

They were appearing in the High Court at Auckland for sentencing today.

Iti and Kemara were jailed for two and a half years. …

Justice Hansen was emphatic that despite a “Dad’s Army” aspect to the camps, their intent was serious.

“A private militia was being established. That is a frightening prospect to our society.”

The judge said one of those involved held extreme anarchist views and there was talk among the participants of killing, using explosives to kill, and attempts to “smash the state”.

At the end of the day, if their motives were not malign they could have applied for firearms licenses. They chose not to, and frankly there is no legitimate reason for anyone to have a molotov cocktail – let alone practice how to use them.

This will hopefully deter other like minded idiots in the future.

UPDATE: Related to this, Police Commissioner Peter Marshall explains why the Police took action in this case.