Wellington, Sept 3 NZPA - The presence of an extra police officer at the search of Jan Molenaar's home may have meant the death of Senior Constable Len Snee was avoided, coroner David Crerar said today.

Mr Snee was shot by Molenaar as he left the gunman's Napier property on May 8 last year. Molenaar subsequently held police at bay for several hours before turning his gun on himself.

Mr Crerar released his findings into both deaths today.

He found police had a lack of appropriate intelligence about Molenaar.

He agreed with police that Molenaar's response to a police search was totally disproportionate to the seriousness of the incident.

Among his recommendations are a review of the Arms Act, saying at present it is only complied with by honest people.

He found that Mr Snee died as a result of wounds from gunshots fired by Molenaar and that Molenaar died from a from a self-inflicted bullet wound to the head.

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