Police answer gang questions about new gang insignia law. Video / Supplied
More than 40 people are now before the courts in New Zealand charged with wearing illegal gang insignia following further arrests under the new law in Auckland and Gisborne.
Assistant Commissioner Paul Basham said police arrested two people in Auckland on Friday using their week-old powers under theGangs Act 2024 banning certain gangs from displaying their insignia in public.
One man was arrested in Hobson St in the central city while the other was arrested in Avondale. Basham said the pair were wearing clothing bearing gang insignia though his statement did not specify which gangs.
A man was also arrested on Friday on Customhouse St, Gisborne, for wearing clothing with gang insignia, Basham said.
Police raided the Head Hunters pad in Henderson before dawn on November 22 under the new law banning public displays of gang insignia. Photo / Michael Craig
Among the patches seized was that of Phillip Robarts, the man police say is president of the Head Hunters West chapter.
He appeared in court yesterday after he and other Head Hunters were filmed at the Mobil Wellsford on November 21, the day the law came into force, allegedly wearing their patches and riding motorcycles bearing gang insignia.
Police seized patches from the Head Hunters West pad in View Rd, Henderson. Photo / NZ Police
The following day, police raided the Head Hunters West pad in View Rd, Henderson, before dawn, seizing patches and motorcycles.
Robarts appeared before community magistrate Fenella Thomas in the Waitākere District Court on Friday facing two charges under the new law of displaying gang insignia in public.
His lawyer, Sam Wimsett, KC, did not apply for name suppression for Robarts.
Wimsett asked for Robarts to be remanded without plea until another hearing on December 18 in the same court. Police did not apply for any bail conditions and he was remanded at large.
Court documents show police allege Robarts was riding his Harley Davidson Street Glide motorcycle bearing Head Hunters insignia at the petrol station in north Auckland while wearing his gang patch.
Anyone convicted of displaying gang insignia under the new law faces a maximum term of imprisonment of six months or a fine of up to $5000. Their gang insignia including patches are forfeited to the Crown and may be destroyed, Section 7 of the Gangs Act states.
People are still allowed to wear gang patches in private. However, they can be slapped with a prohibition order, preventing them from wearing gang insignia even in their homes, if they are repeatedly convicted of displaying gang insignia in public.
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