A police armourer has told a court in the trial of a Matamata horse breeder accused of killing his wife, the gun used could not have gone off accidentally.
Gregory Meads, 55, is before the High Court in Hamilton charged with the murder of 42-year-old Helen Meads in September last year.
She died from a single shotgun wound to her neck.
The defence claims Mr Meads didn't intend to shoot her.
Police armourer Robert Ngamoke said safety tests showed the weapon was in good condition and could not have gone off by accident.
He said the double barrel shotgun was safety tested by being hit with a mallet and dropped 30cm on to the butt, and it didn't go off.
An ESR forensic firearms examiner, Angus Newton, told the court tests determined that the muzzle of the gun must have been in lose contact with Mrs Meads' neck when fired.
