Ngapuhi leader to pay $24,500 for illegally hunting kereruONE NEWSNgapuhi leader Sonny Tau has been raising public awareness about the risks facing the native kereru bird in the weeks after admitting to unlawfully hunting the protected species. Callaghan sentenced Tau for killing or hunting a protected species, unlawfully possessing protected wildlife and conspiring to pervert the course of justice. LAWRENCE SMITH/Stuff.co.nzREAD MORE* Sonny Tau kereru case heads back south* Ngapuhi leader Sonny Tau regrets 'mistake' over kereru* Sonny Tau convicted of perverting course of justiceWhen questioned, Tau said he bought the rifle in Invercargill about four weeks earlier and that he had shot the five kereru from the side of the road near Otautau. Judge Mark Callaghan, when sentencing Tau in the Invercargill District Court on Thursday, said Tau had given power point presentations to raise awareness of the native birds. On November 12, he pleaded guilty in the Auckland District Court to hunting and possessing the protected native species.

Source: Stuff August 10, 2016 22:20 UTC