Shot gang president charged

The president of the Dunedin chapter of Black Power and a teenage associate of the Mongrel Mob fresh from a four-year prison sentence for shooting at police were two of four men before the Dunedin District Court yesterday in relation to a gang-related shooting in the city.

Unprecedented security, including officers armed with police-issue Bushmaster rifles at each entrance, was in place at the Dunedin courthouse in lower Stuart St as the men, three from Black Power and one from the Mongrel Mob, were due to appear.

Three of the men were arrested following a confrontation between the rival gangs in Allenby Ave, Liberton, on Sunday afternoon, during which a man was shot in the arm.

While two more men were arrested yesterday, including the victim of the shooting, others arrested on Sunday have since been released without charge.

Detective Sergeant Chris Henderson said police were still looking for "several" other people they believed were involved, including 19-year-old Dylan Hill.

Much police work was still going on around the case, he said.

As the gang members appeared in court, patched members of the Mongrel Mob milled around in Stuart St outside the courthouse, denied entry by the armed officers.

About a dozen other police were also stationed inside and outside the building.

Inspector Dave Miller said the extra police security at the court was a precautionary measure to ensure the safety of the public and to stop any potential for gang tension to heighten.

The four men before the courts were remanded in custody - two by consent - and will reappear tomorrow, three to answer an indictably-laid (more serious) charge of unlawful assembly and the other a less serious charge of disorderly behaviour likely to incite violence.

Black Power president Albert Epere (43), who was shot in the arm during the confrontation on Sunday afternoon, was arrested yesterday on his release from hospital.

He did not appear in court, but was given a registrar's adjournment to tomorrow on a charge of unlawful assembly, and remanded in custody by consent until then.

He is jointly charged with three others, including Black Power member labourer Daniel Moana Ryan (45) and a man who was remanded in custody by consent to Thursday and granted interim name suppression.

Police opposed Ryan's application for bail and, despite raising concerns about not having a summary of facts or having seen any evidence of Ryan's specific involvement in the incident, Judge Stephen O'Driscoll decided it was in the public interest to decline bail because of the risk of further offending if the defendant was released.

Tyrone Kamal Henare (19) was also declined bail on a charge of disorderly behaviour likely to cause violence.

Judge O'Driscoll noted Henare was recently released from prison after serving a four-year, three-month sentence imposed after he shot at police officers, and that with a history of offending on bail, was a high risk of reoffending if released on bail.

Det Sgt Henderson said another man would appear in the Dunedin District Court today. The public could expect to see extra police security around the courthouse again tomorrow when members of both gangs were scheduled to reappear.