After a lengthy police investigation, Hannon and two other men were charged with murdering the 55-year-old.
Mathew David Hannon was sentenced in the High Court at New Plymouth today. Photo / Tara Shaskey
His co-defendants have pleaded not guilty to murder and arson and will defend the charges at trial next year.
However, Hannon admitted a reduced charge of manslaughter, and was sentenced yesterday in the High Court at New Plymouth.
At the sentencing, Justice Paul Radich described Hannon, who was not present when Bridson died, as having engineered his death.
The court heard that on August 24, 2023, Bridson and Hannon had an argument.
Two days later, Hannon visited Bridson at his home, and while there, was attacked by Bridson.
He pushed Hannon to the ground, smashed an empty bottle over his head and threatened to kill him.
Hannon left the property with moderate injuries and, due to the altercation, became afraid of Bridson and preoccupied with his movements and behaviour.
Then, on the evening of October 10, Bridson was drunk at his home.
Mathew David Hannon has been sent to prison for his role in the death of Sidney Ross Bridson.
For reasons unknown, Bridson smashed the windows of a vehicle he had purchased that day and set fire to it.
Hannon, who had heard Bridson yelling and saw that he had started a fire, phoned one of his co-defendants.
Early the next morning, the co-defendants arrived at his home, where Hannon gave them a shotgun and ammunition.
It is alleged the co-defendants then murdered Bridson and set fire to his house.
In court, Crown prosecutor Jacob Bourke sought a starting point of eight to 10 years’ imprisonment for Hannon, while defence lawyer Paul Keegan, KC, argued six years, six months was appropriate.
Bourke submitted that Hannon’s offending featured an element of vigilantism.
He said that while Hannon was not present when Bridson died, he had provided the firearm and ammunition.
Keegan acknowledged Hannon’s reckless actions and the harm that transpired.
“The decision to supply a loaded firearm in these circumstances is acknowledged to be extremely foolish, criminal and tragically fatal.”
Justice Radich acknowledged Bridson’s loved ones, who had described him as caring, intelligent, a “fantastic” father and uncle, a mentor and a talented craftsman.
The family had labelled the neighbour’s conflict as a “petty feud”, and said Bridson had been lost to “a dark, ugly night that went horribly wrong”.
They now cherished “precious memories” of camping, fishing and hunting trips at Waitaanga where the family had visited Bridson for 20 years.
Justice Radich accepted Hannon’s actions were vigilante in nature, and, while he was not at the crime scene, his role was serious.
“Essentially, you engineered the events that followed.”
Justice Radich took a starting point of seven years and six months’ imprisonment before allowing credit for Hannon’s guilty plea and remorse.
Hannon was sentenced to five years and three months in prison and was banned from owning firearms.
Tara Shaskey joined NZME in 2022 and is currently an assistant editor and reporter for the Open Justice team. She has been a reporter since 2014 and previously worked at Stuff covering crime and justice, arts and entertainment, and Māori issues.