Laws continues attack on gangs

Michael Laws has labelled today's fining of a patched Mongrel Mob member "an excellent outcome". Photo / Alan Gibson

The gang member who was fined $500 and had his patch confiscated under Wanganui's new gang patch bylaw was the man who sparked the legislation, says the town's mayor Michael Laws.

Mongrel Mob member Peter Randal Nahona, 45, was one of the first people to be charged under the district's new bylaw, which came into effect last week.

He pleaded guilty in Wanganui District Court today to wearing a hat and a sweatshirt bearing Mongrel Mob insignia.

Judge Michael Radford indicated today that courts would take seriously anyone who breached the gang patch ban.

John Phillip Ratana, 21, unemployed, was also charged with wearing a Tribesman insignia on the day the law came into force, and Brett Allen Beamsley, 45, unemployed, was charged with wearing a bulldog insignia the following day. Both were remanded without plea until September 22.

A similar charge against a fourth man was adjourned.

There was little or no obvious gang presence at the court and a demonstration by gang members that was supposed to have taken place in the central city at noon did not eventuate.

The only patch in sight (designed to skirt the law) was worn by a good natured Pakeha riding a BMW bike.

Mr Laws said it was a "double irony" the Mongrel Mob leader was the first conviction, "because it was his vicious beating by Hells Angels members in early 2006 that convinced council to act".

"This is an excellent outcome and proves the police and council viewpoint, that both the act and by-law give them an extra and effective tool to police gangs. You could not hope for a better start."

Mr Laws also rejected what he called the "sob story" of Black Power member Denis O'Reilly that his gang members needed community work programmes to better integrate them into the community.

Mr O'Reilly told the Wanganui Chronicle that if the council was to take a proactive line in promoting community work programmes gang members would react positively.

He said he was concerned that Wanganui appeared to be showing a "poverty of spirit" and in Hastings the city council had gone out of its way and told gangs there that if they want to plug into government work schemes the council would act as the umbrella.

"In itself that gives people, like the gang members, a sense of purpose and a steer in the right direction," Mr O'Reilly said.

He believed there was a desire among gang members to be involved in the community.

But Mr Laws was not impressed.

"The truth is that gangs can't be trusted. Gang work programmes tried in the 1970s, 1980s and 1990s all failed to arrest gang illegality or gang growth. In fact, they were used as an economic base to spread those gangs' influence."

Mr Laws cited his work as a senior Parliamentary researcher in the 1980s and chairman of the government's caucus employment committee in the early 1990s.

"All our research indicated - and the police subsequently confirmed - that work programmes targeted at gangs were used to hide their other criminal activities."

He said drug-dealing, violence, intimidation and burglaries continued unabated.

"You know if a gang member sincerely wants to reintegrate within the community. They abandon their patch, get a job and start living a good life. It's not a hard test - it's what the rest of our community does every day."

- NZPA