Gang bosses call for calm

CALM: Rex Timu, president of Hastings Mongrel Mob chapter, says he wants to put a lid on gang tensions after a fatal crash on Saturday. PHOTO FILE

Mongrel Mob leaders are appealing for tensions to simmer down so relatives of the three members killed in a crash on the way to the gang's 50th anniversary celebrations can grieve in peace.

The appeal for calm follows a series of gang incidents this week, after three men died when their car plunged down a bank into the Mohaka River near Wairoa on Saturday.The dead are TerryShane Stone, 31, Ronald Rigby, 53, and Nathan Isaac, 29. A fourth man survived the 150m fall and it's thought the men's car may have been run off the road by another vehicle.

That appears to be causing strife between gangs.Hastings mob president Rex Timu told NZME News Service today he and Wairoa president Rangi Tamati want all mob and Black Power members around the country to quell trouble between them."There's been a couple of incidents around the country that have sparked things off," Mr Timu said."We want to put a lid on it. To everyone around the country, just stay calm."

The families are still in grieving but there has been little incidents popping up."Mr Timu said that message extended to mob members and others inside New Zealand's jails. "Everyone's thoughts and everyone's aroha go out to the whanau in grieving at this time."

He understood the men's bodies would be released to their families today and funeral arrangements would soon be known.He ran the mob's 50th anniversary celebrations that still went ahead on Saturday night in a paddock behind the Te Aute Tavern, near Hastings.

Not everyone present knew of the crash, but Mr Timu said he and few others were given the tragic news."We pretty much kept the incident quiet for everyone else. The celebration went ahead and it was managed well. "Police confirmed this in a statement issued on Sunday."Everyone had a good time and everyone went home safely as expected."