Ponsonby shooter's criminal past revealed
Wednesday, 8 May 2024
Robert Sidney Horne, 33, was found dead on Auckland’s Ponsonby Road on Sunday night after reports of gunshots.
Police identified Hone Kay-Selwyn as the suspected shooter; he was later found dead in the Taupō area.
Stuff has been granted access to court document’s for Kay-Selwyn’s previous convictions.
The man who police allege shot Robert Sidney Horne dead on Auckland’s Ponsonby Rd had previously assaulted a person on a night out.
Court documents released to Stuff said Kay-Selwyn, 31, was outside Taupō’s Sin City strip club at about 1.40am on February 1, 2020 when he sucker punched an unknown person to the body and head without warning.
Kay-Selwyn had been at the club with a number of Killer Beez associates. There was also a stag do at the same club.
Inside there’d been an altercation over a spilt drink, but apologises had been made and offers to repurchase.
Outside the club, Kay-Selwyn’s punch caused the victim to fall to the ground. While two of his Killer Beez associates assaulted two others before police arrived and gained control of the melee.
The victim had to be taken to hospital after losing consciousness.
According to court documents, Kay-Selwyn’s large decorative ring caused the victim significant cuts, swelling and bruising to his face and head.
His right eye was swollen shut, grazing to the right side of his face, arms and hands and his nose had been broken.
When police spoke to Kay-Selwyn, he became “hazy” about the details of what happened.
He pleaded guilty to the charge of assault with intent to injure and was sentenced to a term of supervision for 10 months from August 2020.
According to a report ahead of his sentencing, Kay-Selwyn told the report writer he’d been in Taupō visiting family when he “ran into” the “friends” he was with at the club.
Contrary to the summary of facts, Kay-Selwyn said he left the club alone because he wanted to get reparation from the stag do group for the spilt drink.
“He admitted he over reacted to what the victim said and punched him in the head once, but nowhere else on his body.”
Kay-Selwyn maintained the victim was fully aware of the situation, but said that does not excuse what he did.
He said alcohol was a major factor of the offending and he was regretful.
He became associated with the Killer Beez when he was 14 after his father - actor and film-maker Don Selwyn (Ngāti Kurī and Te Aupōuri) ONZM - died in 2007. This was when he was introduced to his half-siblings from his father’s side.
“He stated that his sense of alienation and inability to fit in to school life resulted in him leaving school at the age of 15 years. He described his membership to the Killer Beez as providing him a sense of belonging.”
But said he did not consider himself an “active” member of the gang and that a lot of their criminal activities “bother him”.
The report writer said should Kay-Selwyn fail to distance himself from the Killer Beez there was a concern for an offence free future.
At the time, Kay-Selwyn had been living with his elderly mother. His ex-partner also lived at the address in a co-parenting capacity for their four-year-old daughter.
His mother was disappointed in his behaviour and was hopeful he could make the necessary changes to ensure he was not before the court in the future. His ex-partner also told the report writer he was a good father to their daughter.
Kay-Selwyn also had a previous conviction for possessing cannabis plant and was fined and ordered to pay court costs in 2018.
Earlier on Wednesday, detective inspector Chris Barry said police had travelled to the Taupō region on Tuesday to locate Kay-Selwyn.
'On the way, Police were notified of a man located deceased at a rural address in the Broadlands area.
'While a post-mortem examination is yet to be completed, it is believed the deceased is the man sought by Police in relation to the homicide investigation.”
Kay-Selwyn’s death is currently being treated as unexplained.
The detective said the investigation team will continue to piece together information received to date and make inquiries on behalf of the coroner.