“Have a look, the grow tent’s empty,” the victim said.
“Don’t f***ing lie to me,” Rehu told him, and he and Keefe-Puanaki, still holding the shotgun, walked him to the shed where the growing tent was.
Inside, they found equipment used for hydroponic growing, but no plants.
They had to settle for some plants growing outside, which they made the victim help put into their vehicle, a Toyota Rav-4.
Unknown to the robbers, there were two children also at the property, one of them sick with Covid.
The victim’s 10-year-old son had been watching from inside the house, covertly taking photographs and videos of the robbery on his mobile phone.
He also recorded the licence plate number of the Toyota, driven by a third mobster known as “Foulchain”, who has not been identified.
All the robbers were wearing masks or face coverings to disguise themselves. They were not known to the victim.
But with the evidence on the boy’s phone, police found and stopped the Toyota in Napier about three hours later and arrested Keefe-Puanaki, who was still wearing the same clothing as in the robbery.
They seized his phone and found the texts from Rehu, whom they caught up with later.
Foulchain has not been caught.
Rehu and Keefe-Puanaki both admitted aggravated robbery and came before Judge Russell Collins for sentencing in the Napier District Court in February this year.
Keefe-Puanaki was sent to prison for two years and 11 months.
However, Judge Collins deferred sentencing for Rehu, whom he described as “a young, talented man” headed towards spending his life in jail, to give him a chance to show he could turn his life around.
The judge said Rehu’s youth had set him apart from his co-offender, who was 23.
When Rehu came back before him for the fourth time on Friday, Judge Collins told him: “You’re not going to prison.”
After the results of a negative drugs test were handed up to the bench, Judge Collins said Rehu had undergone a “massive, massive shift” in his whole approach to life. He had a job in the forestry industry and the support of his partner.
“You have done everything that I have asked from you,” Judge Collins said.
He sentenced Rehu to six months of community detention with an 8pm to 5am curfew, and a year and a half of intensive supervision – a sentence he described as an “18-month ability maximisation programme”.
Judge Collins also imposed judicial monitoring, meaning a probation officer will have to provide the judge with regular reports on Rehu’s progress.
“You have pulled it around. The journey has just started,” Judge Collins said.
“I want to read about you in 10 years time … the good things ... I want to read about you being a success story.”
Judge Collins imposed conditions that Rehu undergoes further alcohol and drug assessment and any programmes as directed by a probation officer. He was also told to work towards a full driving licence.
He was ordered not to communicate or associate with Keefe-Puanaki.
The judge, however, did not tell Rehu he could not associate with other Mongrel Mob members, saying he was going to have to live with and manage such relationships in his future.
“It is going to be for you to decide what is important to you in life,” Judge Collins said.
Ric Stevens spent many years working for the former New Zealand Press Association news agency, including as a political reporter at Parliament, before holding senior positions at various daily newspapers. He joined NZME’s Open Justice team in 2022 and is based in Hawke’s Bay. His writing in the crime and justice sphere is informed by four years of front-line experience as a probation officer.
