Mother says don't use my son's death as excuse

By PHIL TAYLOR

The mother of a man slain in a street brawl is appealing to the Mongrel Mob and Black Power not to use her son's death as an excuse for more violence.

NaRita Pouwhare said she wanted to tell the Mongrel Mob to hold back.

"Please don't use the incident of my son to retaliate, though I know how much you cared for him.

"I'm sick of these gangs. Violence is not going to benefit anyone. It will hurt their own families."

Her son Te Rangi Tait Pouwhare-Carroll, 20, died after being stabbed in a brawl in Whakatane in May last year.

A series of tit-for-tat incidents followed the death and acquittal, on July 1, of five Black Power associates charged with his murder. A man linked to Black Power was shot in the legs outside his house days after Tait's death and three Black Power men were injured on Tuesday when gang members shot at each other near Taneatua .

Police regarded Mr Pouwhare-Carroll as a Mongrel Mob associate but his mother said his prospects were much brighter .

She said he had a job - something not that common among his small-town contemporaries. He worked for a forestry company, returning to the family home in Ruatoki at weekends, and was saving to go to Sydney where an uncle was to arrange boatbuilding work.

The uncle had encouraged his nephew to set goals beyond his small, impoverished home town, Ms Pouwhare said.

Seeing his nephew's potential, the uncle had told him to get a job and focus on getting to Sydney - and Tait was doing that.

"He'd made up his mind to get out and do better for himself. He would have done well, I know that. He was a bright boy."

She believed the Mongrel Mob member her son accompanied to Whakatane was the Black Power associates' target.

Ms Pouwhare said she did not know whether her son, the second of her six children, was a gang prospect.

He didn't have a patch, but sometimes wore red, the Mongrel Mob colour.

"I was always on my sons' cases. If they came home with a red bandanna, I would tell them to get rid of it. I never did support gangs. My son knew how I felt."

Ms Pouwhare said she had thrown out clothing she thought had gang affiliations.

"Tait would be freaking, but I'd tell him I didn't bring him up to be influenced by others. But in a small place like Ruatoki it's hard not to be influenced because there are relatives and friends who are in the gangs."

Her other children were "devastated and angry".

"They looked up to their brother ... Tait was the outgoing one, the spokesman, the man of the family. We were a whanau group before his life was robbed."

She and husband Jacob Carroll have separated since Tait's death and Ms Pouwhare is in a relationship with Whakatane police iwi liaison officer Matu Te Pou.

A Ruatoki resident, who did not want to be named, questioned whether Mr Te Pou's role trying to negotiate with the gangs was compromised. Black Power was aware of the relationship, she said.

Eastern Bay of Plenty area controller Inspector Jim Mansell said he was not aware of Mr Te Pou's private situation. He had confidence in Mr Te Pou's skills and professionalism and said it was bad luck if Black Power had a problem with that.

A public meeting is to be held in Taneatua on Monday to discuss how to resolve gang tensions.