Black Power gang members who bashed Mongrel Mob rivals lose appeal bid

Two Black Power gang members who bashed Mongrel Mob members in Gisborne have lost appeals against their sentences.

Two Black Power gang members who bashed Mongrel Mob rivals in a brutal act of utu have lost appeals against their jail terms.

Eruera Harvey and Libya Curtis Tamihere were jailed for five and six years respectively over the October 2014 invasion of a Gisborne home which woke and terrified 10 children.

It began earlier in the night when Tamihere, a patched member of the Black Power gang, was set upon by members of the Mongrel Mob.

He suffered a significant head injury for which he would ultimately need surgery.

Later that night, he and several other members of the gang, including Harvey who was a prospect, made their way to a residential home at Childers Rd to exact utu, or revenge.

The residents there hid while the group yelled and banged on the back door.

They were told they could find who they were looking for at another home located on Karaka St.

Upon arriving at the Karaka St house, Tamihere was confronted by a man.

Tamihere swung a metal baseball bat at him, hitting him in the head, arm and ribs.

The sentencing judge found that Harvey also entered the yard of the property about this time.

Many of the group were armed with weapons including sticks, bats and scooter handles, some of which were picked up at the Karaka St address.

Tamihere and others in the group forced their way into the house, wielding their makeshift weapons.

The home was occupied by 15 people including at least 10 children, the trial at Gisborne District Court earlier was told. Harvey did not enter the house.

The group were eventually forced out of the house on to the front yard where a large brawl involving weapons ensued. Shortly after the police arrived and arrested the participants.

Harvey was sentenced to five years' imprisonment for aggravated burglary and unlawful assembly, while Tamihere was jailed for six years on charges of aggravated burglary, injuring with intent to cause grievous bodily harm and unlawful assembly.

They appealed to the Court of Appeal on the grounds that Harvey 's sentence was excessive given his limited involvement in the vigilante attack and that the judge should have applied a discount for Tamihere's youth, being just 20 at the time.

But after a hearing last month, the appeal was rejected.

While the Court of Appeal accepted there was no direct evidence placing Harvey in the thick of the invasion, he had admitted that he "smacked someone over the head" with a "big" pole which they found "provided ample basis for a finding of active involvement".

"Furthermore, we are not satisfied that a substantially greater discount is warranted, given the clear support role played by Mr Harvey in what was a violent gang-related home invasion," the judges concluded in dismissing the appeal.

In relation to Tamihere's appeal, the Court of Appeal did not consider his sentence as manifestly excessive.

"The judge was very generous in providing a 20-month discount for Mr Tamihere's head injury," they concluded.

"While the head injury is a relevant factor to be weighed, we doubt its significance as a contributor to the offending. In our view, therefore, a 20-month discount encompassing youth and the head injury is adequate in the circumstances."