The Mongrel Mob member at the centre of an armed standoff prompted by his drug-induced paranoia had to be dragged from the dock after being jailed for two years and five months.

Hemi Taylor, 26, appeared in Napier District Court on Tuesday after pleading guilty to charges of unlawful possession of a firearm and discharging a firearm.

Taylor emerged from an Alexander Ave house carrying a baby at 1.30am on June 25, after an 12-hour standoff that saw several blocks of Napier cordoned off.

The standoff ended without injury.

Taylor's lawyer Eric Forster said Taylor had mental health issues and had not been taking his medication and had been using methamphetamine instead.

His judgment was clouded and may have been delusional and paranoid at the time of the offending, Forster said..

Taylor accepted the event went for too long and came at a high cost and he was remorseful, he said.

Judge Tony Adeane said the underlying gang and criminal activity was an aggravating feature, as was his previous convictions, including for possession of an offensive weapon earlier this year.

Involving an infant was a very aggravating feature, the judge said.

People who brought infants and firearms together should expect stern penalties, he said.

Judge Adeane noted that Taylor had been assessed as being at high risk of reoffending, and said his remorse was yet to be tested.

He sentenced him to two years and five months in prison.

After receiving the sentence Taylor refused to move, and had to be restrained by police and court staff, who eventually pulled him to the ground and took him to the cells.

In the days leading up to the stand-off Taylor had been using a large amount of methamphetamine.

He had been entrusted by other gang members to deliver methamphetamine from Napier to Gisborne. 

Taylor was in a de facto relationship with his partner of seven years. They had a four-month-old daughter and were expecting another child.

On June 23, after failing to make a drug delivery, he became extremely paranoid, believing the gang was looking for him and wanted to kill him. So he armed himself with a shotgun cut down to pistol length.

On the afternoon of June 24 Taylor and his partner visited her mother when he took the firearm out and paraded it around the house before going outside and firing it at a fence and yelling "Seig Heil".

After arguing with his partner, he grabbed the baby girl and the firearm and drove away. He returned a short time later to collect his partner then drove to their home on Alexander Ave.

By that time police had been alerted and found his car in their driveway. Cordons were put around several blocks and local schools were put in lockdown. The Armed Offenders Squad was joined by the Strategic Tactics Group, which was flown by helicopter from Wellington.

At about 1.30am on June 25 Taylor agreed to surrender and walked from the house. His partner declined to comment to police.

Taylor said he didn't have anything to do with the firearm, which was found wrapped in clothing and hidden in a drawer.

The operation to arrest Taylor involved police, the fire service, and ambulance staff. More than 400 hours of staff time was spent on the operation, which cost "several tens of thousands of dollars".

Reparation was not sought.

Article: https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/crime/115286285/armed-gang-member-whose-druginduced-paranoia-led-to-12hour-standoff-restrained-in-dock?fbclid=IwAR2QaXYeahOu1hYGMdVbdkhz6pSHByYcbcivR0LQ4zdZnvLAejlh1kMpvoI
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