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STUFF
Nui Rangirangi says he has now distanced himself from the Mongrel Mob.
Two rival gang members fought outside a boarding house over $50, the loser then retaliated stabbing a Killer Beez member five times in the head and back.
Nui Rangirangi and Jolson Cocker both lived at a Grace Foundation boarding house in Māngere, Auckland, with a number of other men.
The Grace Foundation helps rehabilitate and reintegrate people coming out of prison or on bail.
But on Tuesday at the High Court at Auckland, Justice Anne Hinton described the boarding house as somewhat of a cauldron with simmering gang tensions and there was “clear potential for disaster”.
Then Mongrel Mob member Rangirangi was sentenced to 4 years and 3 months’ imprisonment after being found guilty of wounding with intent to cause grievous bodily harm by Justice Hinton.
SUPPLIED
Jolson Cocker was a Killer Beez member.
During the judge-alone trial, Cocker said multiple times he did not want to press charges and forgave Rangirangi.
Cocker had drunk 36 RTDs that day and one witness said all the men had used methamphetamine that day.
Justice Hinton said the boarding house did not sound like a sound place for men who were under some supervision and all from different gangs.
Cocker, who is a Killer Beez member, had a fist fight on the road outside the boarding house with Rangirangi. He won and said he punched Rangirangi in the face a number of times.
Shortly after, Rangirangi fetched a 30cm long knife and stabbed Cocker multiple times. Cocker couldn’t remember most of this, but drove himself to hospital.
Abigail Dougherty/Stuff
Justice Anne Hinton accepted Nui Rangirangi was remorseful. (File photo)
One stab wound to Cocker’s head went through bone, the layers surrounding the brain which are tough and into the substance of the brain.
The three wounds to Cocker’s back could have been life-threatening, including one where the knife went deep enough to go within the lung cavity.
Justice Hinton said Cocker was “very lucky” there was little in the way of long-lasting effects.
On Tuesday, prosecutor Charlie Piho said police had been unable to obtain a victim impact statement from Cocker.
Piho accepted Rangirangi was entitled to time off his sentence for his background.
The court heard Rangirangi had previously maintained his innocence and said the conviction was wrong, however now accepted responsibility and apologised for his “over-the-top” actions in a letter to the court.
He was supported in court by some of his whānau.
Rangirangi’s lawyer, Peter Kaye, said there was clear a link between his client’s childhood and the offending. Justice Hinton agreed.
The court heard Rangirangi had been physically and psychologically abused by his father, including with lumps of wood, and thought he would die one time.
He also witnessed his mother being beaten.
“It is hard for a child to learn to do the right thing if you’re being constantly being punished for doing the alleged wrong thing,” Justice Hinton said.
Kaye said the cultural report by Dr Jarrod Gilbert was “frightening to read”.
At the age of 10, Rangirangi started smoking cannabis and sniffing petrol. At 13, he was consuming methamphetamine.
Rangirangi has since been diagnosed with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and is now on medication.
The court heard Rangirangi had been previously jailed for violence offending in 2013 and 2019.
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