A confrontation between rival gangs in Dunedin last September has brought terms of community work or jail for five Black Power members.
A senior member of the gang, Albert Victor Epere (45), unemployed, who was shot in the arm during the incident, said he and his associates had not gone to a Pine Hill house for a fight. They went to pick up one of their members.
"The police know that. We're not having a chance to put our side across," Epere told Judge Michael Crosbie who sentenced him and four others in the Dunedin District Court yesterday.
Epere, Daniel Moana Ryan (46), unemployed and Danea Clive Angus Witehira (42), labourer, were given 100 hours of community work, while Poutokomanawa Bubba Matiu Hapi (19), and Michael William Kushell (20), who are both in custody at present, were each sentenced to six weeks' jail.
The five were originally charged indictably with being part of an unlawful assembly in Allenby Ave on September 25 and were taking their case to trial.
But last month, they accepted a Crown offer of a reduced charge and pleaded guilty to behaving in a disorderly manner likely to cause violence.
Crown counsel Robin Bates told Judge Crosbie reducing the charge was seen by the Crown as a pragmatic solution.
There were issues with witnesses "on the receiving end of the incident" and issues with identity so, from a practical point of view, after representations from the various defence counsel and looking at the overall seriousness of the situation, the Crown and police agreed the situation could be dealt with appropriately by a summary charge.
It was accepted members of the public might have been concerned about a shot being fired, but the person who fired at Mr Epere was now being dealt with separately, Mr Bates said.
The confrontation happened about 4.30pm after a car of Mongrel Mob gang members and associates drove past Epere's home in Pine Hill Rd and a gun was seen pointing towards the house from the car. The vehicle travelled to Allenby Ave and stopped outside a Mongrel Mob house.
Epere and the other four defendants arrived in Allenby Ave soon afterwards and an armed confrontation developed, with members of both gangs producing weapons.
For almost half an hour, police received numerous 111 emergency calls about gang members carrying weapons, a car being smashed with an axe, a shot being fired and someone being seen carrying a gun.
Epere arrived at the Dunedin Public Hospital emergency department about 5pm with a gunshot wound to his right arm. Although he said he had been shot, he declined to say how it happened.
The strict bail conditions imposed on the defendants after the incident appeared to have brought about a decrease in the conflict between the two groups, Mr Bates said.
Judge Crosbie told the group the community did not like or accept such behaviour. And he had to take into account the restrictive bail conditions which had affected Epere and Witehera's ability to attend special family events.
Kushell and Hapi were in prison, Kushell on remand on unrelated charges and Hapi as a sentenced prisoner, so a short prison term was appropriate in their case.
With Epere, Ryan and Witehira, the judge acknowledged they had all been out of serious trouble since about 2003 and Epere and Witehira were now involved in organisations putting something back into the community.
And Ryan had moved away from Dunedin and was taking steps to sort out his life.
