A judge has told a Northland man caught wearing a Crips gang insignia in Queenstown it is up to him to persuade politicians the gang patch ban is wrong.
The Otago Daily Times understands it is the first prosecution in the southern South Island under controversial gang-patch legislation that came into force last month.
Judge Doyle told Moses she had sworn an oath upon becoming a judge to apply the law.
"It doesn't matter what I think about that law. In this case Parliament has determined the Crips is a gang as listed in Schedule 2 of the [Gangs] Act.
"I hope that one day you get the opportunity to talk to the right people about whether Crips should still be part of Schedule 2 . . . that would be a conversation with a politician or a select committee."
The police summary of facts said Moses was seen walking in Beach St in the resort town’s CBD last Wednesday wearing a white vest with the Crips insignia.
He took the vest off after a member of the public told him he should not be wearing it, but was arrested him a short time later after police received a complaint.
Counsel Annaliese Carlaw said Moses had been travelling in the South Island with his partner for the past two months, and did not know about the new law because he did not watch TV or follow social media.
He had admitted the charge at the first opportunity, Ms Carlaw said.
"He’s not trying to cause any problems."
The Crips have been blamed for a spate of assaults against prison officers at Otago Corrections Facility this year.
The number of prisoners associated with the gang at the facility has risen steadily over the past five years.
University of Canterbury senior lecturer and author of Patched: The History of Gangs in New Zealand, Dr Jarrod Gilbert, told the ODT in July the Crips were a Los Angeles-style street gang that became established in New Zealand during the 1990s.
Its members tended to be "hypermaterialistic and hyperviolent", and largely made up of youths.
Dr Gilbert said they differed from gangs with New Zealand origins, such as Black Power or the Mongrel Mob, by not wearing traditional back patches and having more informal structures.
Addressing Judge Doyle directly, Moses said the 80 or so Crips members he associated with were his "family".
"I don't know about these other gangs, these other people, but I just speak on behalf of me and my brothers, and how we as men are going to come together."
He would be starting a skipper training course in Westport soon.
"This is a positive thing, this is helping me in my life, because I used to be that thug, I used to be that idiot, that young man that had no brains," Moses said.
"Now I have some sense because I’ve done prison time, and it’s time to make a change."
Judge Doyle said she hoped that was true, because it would mean "amazing things" for him and the people in his life.
She accepted he had been "off-grid" while travelling, and may have been unaware of the law change.
She entered a conviction and deferred his sentence for 12 months, which was effectively a "good behaviour bond".
"It means if you’re true to your word, this is not your journey any more and you’re on the right track. We will not see you again."
She also made an order for the destruction of the gang insignia.
The gang patch ban came into force on November 21, making it an offence to display gang insignia in a public place.
Under the Gangs Act, police can also break up large groups in public "if they are causing fear and intimidation" and issue non-consorting orders to stop gang members from associating or communicating for up to three years.
— Guy Williams, PIJF court reporter
