The people who helped Tom Phillips should absolutely be packing themselves because the cops are making it pretty clear they're coming after them - and in a big way.

Cops have said today that it is clear that Tom Phillips had help recently, judging by the stuff that's lying around in the second camp. And what police are planning to do is to trace where that stuff came from.

So if it's not stolen, where did it come from? Who gave it to Tom Phillips? If it's bought, who bought it for Tom Phillips, who were the guns registered to?

Now, this is incredibly frustrating to talk about because as of Monday, there is a suppression order in the courts, which means the full picture here is not out.

But even without that full picture, I think that what we already know is serious enough for his accomplices to understand that they are in big trouble if they get caught.

One man is dead, a police officer almost died, and those children were put in harm's way - basically every single day that they were in the bush. At any time, they might have come across a police officer.

Now imagine how much more dangerous it would have been if it wasn't just one child, but all of them who were with him when he was confronted by a police officer and pulled a weapon on that officer and kicked off a gunfight. 

He took a child to rob a bank, he took a child to burgle a dairy, he took a child to burgle PGG Wrightson, he gave his daughter a gun.

She pointed it at someone during the bank robbery. At any one of those moments, who knows if they come across a cop, he pulled his gun and kicked off a gunfight.

Now, the accomplices cannot say that they didn't know. This has been going on for years.

If they were helping him as recently as police believe, then they knew - and they deserved to be dragged before the courts for it.

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The people who helped Tom Phillips should absolutely be packing themselves because the cops are making it pretty clear they're coming after them - and in a big way.
Cops have said today that it is clear that Tom Phillips had help recently, judging by the stuff that's lying around in the second camp.&nbsp;And what police are planning to do is to trace where that stuff came from.
So if it's not stolen, where did it come from?&nbsp;Who gave it to Tom Phillips?&nbsp;If it's bought, who bought it for Tom Phillips, who were the guns registered to?
Now, this is incredibly frustrating to talk about because as of Monday, there is a suppression order in the courts, which means the full picture here is not out.
But even without that full picture, I think that what we already know is serious enough for his accomplices to understand that they are in big trouble if they get caught.
One man is dead, a police officer almost died, and those children were put in harm's way - basically every single day that they were in the bush. At any time, they might have come across a police officer.
Now imagine how much more dangerous it would have been if it wasn't just one child, but all of them who were with him when he was confronted by a police officer and pulled a weapon on that officer and kicked off a gunfight.&nbsp;
He took a child to rob a bank, he took a child to burgle a dairy, he took a child to burgle PGG Wrightson, he gave his daughter a gun.
She pointed it at someone during the bank robbery. At any one of those moments, who knows if they come across a cop, he pulled his gun and kicked off a gunfight.
Now, the accomplices cannot say that they didn't know.&nbsp;This has been going on for years.
If they were helping him as recently as police believe, then they knew - and they deserved to be dragged before the courts for it.
LISTEN ABOVE

With a straight down the middle approach, Heather du Plessis-Allan Drive on Newstalk ZB delivers the very latest news and views to New Zealanders as they wrap up their day.

Heather du Plessis-Allan Drive

Perspective with Heather du Plessis-Allan: There's no way Phillips' accomplices didn't know

https://api.omny.fm/orgs/7784f840-c291-422a-924b-ad9000bbad71/clips/48631c83-2e4a-488b-af37-b354007d5b68/transcript