Mongrel Mob president convicted in court

A Mongrel Mob president has been in the Napier District Court this week convicted of assault, intimidation and demanding with menace.

Hastings chapter president Rex Noel Timu, 50, appeared before Judge Geoff Rea yesterday and pleaded guilty to each of the three charges relating to an incident in April this year.

Interim name suppression, which had been in place since he was first charged, was yesterday lifted after Judge Rea ruled there was no legal basis for it to continue.

The Flaxmere man faced a fourth charge of kidnapping but the Crown offered no evidence on this so he was discharged without conviction.

A regional field worker for nationwide change trust Waka Moemoea, which works to help "hard-to-reach" families and youths in communities such as Camberley and Flaxmere, Timu has been vocal about his commitment to the White Ribbon's anti-violence message.

At the 2015 White Ribbon Ride, an annual event working to end men's violence against women, he said was "in a position" to make change and felt passionate about an anti-violence message due to seeing so many people being hurt.

"I'm spreading the word out to my members, even around New Zealand, to stop the violence," he said.

Yesterday his defence lawyer Eric Forster indicated he would be seeking community work or home detention for the assault, intimidation and demanding with menace charges and a sentencing date for October was set.

The court heard interim name suppression had been in place due to issues in the defendant's background and that these had since been dealt with, leaving no other grounds for continued suppression.

Timu was unavailable for comment and Mr Forster said it wouldn't be appropriate.