Five Mongrel Mob members involved in an arson attack on a rival gang's headquarters were sentenced to jail when they appeared in Invercargill District Court today.
Judge Kevin Phillips described how the group went to the headquarters of the Road Knights about 6am on June 18 last year, with the intention of "sorting out" a perceived injustice.
He said Shaun Verdun Te Kahu, the president of the Mongrel Mob's Invercargill chapter, was the ringleader and, armed with a slug gun and hammer, led events as they unfolded.
They gained access to the two-storey premises by smashing a window in the back door. Once inside, they searched the house, unaware that one lone Road Knight associate was hiding from them.
Petrol from two 20-litre containers was spread round the clubhouse before Te Kahu lit a fire upstairs as a second mob member, Barry James Pennicott, acted as a lookout.
Two Harley Davidson motorcycles were loaded onto a trailer and taken back to the Mongrel Mob headquarters, Judge Phillips said.
"You took gang patches and a flag as trophies - that was designed as the ultimate insult and was done as an intention to provoke."
A short time later they took a taxi back to watch firefighters battle the blaze before returning to their own premises.
When police arrived at the Mongrel Mob headquarters as part of their investigation they saw the motorcycles and the flag.
But while they waited to obtain a search warrant to get the Harley Davidsons back, four of the men began damaging the bikes with bricks and rocks, ignoring police orders to stop.
By the time police got the warrant, the motorcycles had been set on fire and totally destroyed.
Judge Phillips said the men were lucky the Road Knight associate had not died. He described how the incident had harmed the image of Invercargill city through adverse publicity and the presence of armed police on the streets for more than three weeks.
Neighbours living close to the gangs feared reprisals and suffered losses to the values of their properties, he said.
"What really, really gets my goat is the sheer arrogance. You went back to the scene and chanted and, in full view of police, you destroyed the bikes."
In imposing sentence, Judge Phillips gave each man credit for their guilty pleas, even though they came late, after their jury trial had started.
Te Kahu was sentenced to a total of five years and nine months' jail for arson, aggravated burglary, two charges of theft and one of intentional damage - to be served cumulatively on a sentence he is already serving.
Pennicott, 28, who was also charged with arson, aggravated burglary, two of theft and one of intentional damage was sentenced to four years, 11 months' jail.
Pihama John Tauroa, 34, was sentenced to four years' jail for aggravated burglary, two charges of theft and one of intentional damage.
Craig Arthur Reid, 37, was jailed for three years and seven months for aggravated burglary, two charges of theft, one of intentional damage and two of benefit fraud.
Joshua William Edwards, 26, was sentenced to three years' jail on one charge of aggravated burglary and two of theft.
