|
 |
|
|
|
Not Bikers...but news is slow....
Father and son caught in gang war, jury told
A father and son ran for their lives with their hands in the air when the Mongrel Mob ambushed Black Power members at Ruatoki, south of Whakatane, in July last year, a jury in the High Court at Rotorua has been told.
Six patched members or associates of the Taneatua chapter of the Mongrel Mob have pleaded not guilty to five charges of attempted murder, three charges of wounding with intent to cause grievous bodily harm and charges of discharging a firearm with intent to cause grievous bodily harm, possessing a firearm in a public place and participating in an organised criminal group.
They are Steven Tipene Tihi, 27, Robert Daniels, 37, Hira Bush, 28, Ngata Turupa Hauwaho, 24, and Fabian Jessie Mika, 16, all from Taneatua, and Haydn Gage, 33, from Ruatoki. All are unemployed.
Crown prosecutor Rob Ronayne told the jury Black Power claimed Whakatane as "its town" and Taneatua, Te Teko and Kawerau were Mongrel Mob territory.
There had been many violent altercations and confrontations between the two groups.
Mr Ronayne said the six men were part of a group that fired at two cars carrying Black Power members in an ambush which spanned 10km of public road between Ruatoki and Taneatua.
Four Black Power members were shot and were treated at Whakatane Hospital.
A man who had nothing to do with either gang went to offer help after he heard what he thought was two cars colliding.
When he arrived a Black Power member jumped into the rear seat of his car, "cowering" behind a child's car seat.
The man tried to flee by reversing his car and was shot at. A slug narrowly missed him, hitting the car bonnet instead.
The man and his 14-year-old son got out of their car and were "waved away" by Mongrel Mob members pointing a firearm at them.
The father and son put their hands in the air and ran for their lives.
"The Crown says that the members of this Mongrel Mob group were completely determined to accomplish their goal and press home their brazen attack ... all Black Power members were shot at in an attempt to kill them," Mr Ronayne said.
The Crown will call about 86 witnesses during the three-week trial.
- NZPA
