By BRIDGET CARTER
He was appointed to a community patrol that was supposed to keep Kaitaia safe.
Instead, Darrin "Shadow" Greer and a group of his Black Power thugs beat a young man to death in an ugly street brawl.
He kicked and punched 18-year-old truck driver Haymish Cameron, who fell to the ground with his shirt and singlet ripped, his face bloodied, and died of head injuries received in the beating.
Earlier that night, August 25, 2001, Greer tore through the Kaitaia Hotel, smashing glasses, throwing a cash register to the floor, threatening to kill the pub manager, assaulting her and yelling racist abuse.
"We own this town and no one mucks around with us," he said.
Last night in the High Court at Whangarei, Greer, 38, leader of Kaitaia's Black Power chapter, was jailed for six years for manslaughter. He was jointly charged with Black Power member Henry Pairama, who was jailed for six years; gang associate Dennis Porter Opetaia (3 1/2 years); and another associate, Miru Mark (18 months). All four men had pleaded guilty.
Justice Colin Nicholson said Greer probably led the assault, which followed a fight inside the hotel toilets.
Mr Cameron stepped in to help friends. The four accused became involved on the street outside. Mark started punching Mr Cameron, then backed off. Greer kept punching and kicking the teenager, Opetaia and Pairama joined in and the trio carried on when Mr Cameron was on the ground.
Justice Nicholson said Mr Cameron's death had caused extreme grief to his mother, Jackie. and uncle Wiki. Wiki Cameron was a father figure to Haymish.
Outside court Wiki Cameron said Haymish had been a happy, outgoing teenager who was to take over the family's truck-driving business, which was now struggling.
Mr Cameron said he felt so much pain from Haymish's death that "if I didn't wake up tomorrow, I wouldn't care".
Kaitaia Hotel owner John Cotching said that on the night of the death, problems with gang members in his pub reached a climax.
"They had smashed our pub. They had threatened to kill us and now they were killing our patrons."
The following night, he opened for business to send a clear message that his family would not be intimidated.
Mr Cotching said Greer and his 20-odd Black Power associates drank at the hotel and were known to intimidate patrons, smash bottles and cause "low-level mayhem".
Greer's lawyer, Mike Dodds, said his client was not overtly Maori, but held Maori values. The father of teenage sons saw himself as a town protector. He was a league coach, held charity barbecues at the Black Power pad and gave generous donations.
Greer asked to join the Kaitaia Community Patrol to protect youth from police brutality and help deal with the underage sex, teenage drinking, drug-taking and fighting that were occurring at night in Kaitaia at that time.
The patrol also included Black Power associates Etana 'ET' Heka and Piki Mark, Miru Mark's father, who were also charged with Mr Cameron's manslaughter.
Charges against Heka and Piki Mark were thrown out after a prosecution technical error.
The trio patrolled the streets from about 9pm to dawn, as part of a group including members of the Kaitaia Safer Community Council.
They wore special jackets sponsored by The Warehouse and travelled in the patrol group's van.
Kaitaia Detective Sergeant Mark Robertson said he thought it was highly inappropriate to put patched gang members forward as honest, responsible leaders. "The acting senior sergeant and the community constable supported it, but I opposed it from day one."
But the town's strengthening-families co-ordinator, Shona Hobson, said the gang associates were fathers who were prepared to get children off the streets at night.
Patrol organisers swiftly dumped the Black Power element after Mr Cameron's death and were quick to admit its involvement was a mistake.
Greer's mother told the Herald her son came north with her from Auckland in 1982. In search of male role models, he joined a gang.
His partner of 17 years, Lydia Abraham, said he was a good father and close to his children.
Kaitaia Senior Sergeant Gordon Gunn said that since the killing of Mr Cameron, things in the town had improved. A liquor ban had also helped.
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