A Police College employee who kept high-powered rifles inside uniformed mannequins at his home, has been discharged without conviction.
Patrick Phipps, 44, was found guilty earlier this week on two counts of illegally possessing firearms.
A Finnish Valmet semi-automatic and a Czechoslovakian VZ58 automatic rifle were found inside the torso and legs of the mannequins, during a search of his Johnsonville home.
In sentencing at the Wellington District Court on Friday, Judge Tony Adeane explained that Mr Phipps is a committed firearms collector who is appropriately licensed but made a bad judgement call.
He ordered Mr Phipps to pay $3000 to the Starship Foundation, and for the guns to be forfeited by the police and auctioned.
