A Lake Hāwea man has received a six-month home detention sentence on drugs and firearms charges after appearing in the Invercargill District Court last week.

Stuff NZ reported that Joshua Haddon admitted charges including possession of MDMA for supply, possession of controlled drugs for supply, possession of methamphetamine, and unlawfully possessing a sawn off double-barrelled shotgun and a sawn off pump-action shotgun.

Judge Kevin Phillips didn’t buy Haddon’s argument that the firearms were used to shoot rabbits.

Stuff reported that police began investigating Haddon when looking into the supply of Class A drugs in the Wānaka and Lake Hāwea area.

Haddon, 33, who moved to Wānaka in 2018, made five trips to Auckland in 2020. A subsequent search warrant at his property found 102 grams of cannabis and two sawn off shotguns.

Police also intercepted a courier package containing methamphetamine which was addressed to Haddon’s Lake Hāwea address. 

Haddon had posted the package from Auckland, Judge Phillips said.

Haddon’s lawyer Roger Eagles argued Haddon pleaded guilty on the basis that the drugs were being sent to Haddon’s letter box for other people to pick up, but the judge took issue with that.

The court was told Haddon became involved in drug supplying for financial reasons after losing his job during the Covid-19 pandemic, Stuff reported.

PHOTO: Supplied