Rotorua gang shooting: Judge tells off driver in Westend traffic lights incident for chewing gum

A Black Power associate fired shots at utes containing Mongrel Mob members outside the Westend shops in Rotorua in September last year. Photos / NZME

A driver involved in a shooting at rival gang members in broad daylight at a busy Rotorua intersection was offered some blunt advice when he appeared before a judge in the Rotorua District Court.

Himiona Buffett, 20, was told by Judge John McDonald not to “stand in the dock chewing your gum”.

Buffett was to be sentenced in the Rotorua District Court after previously pleading guilty to charges of discharging a firearm to intimidate and unlawfully carrying or possessing a firearm.

A police summary, released to the Rotorua Daily Post on Friday, said the shopping centre on the corner of Malfroy and Old Taupō roads was busy with pedestrians and traffic at the time of the incident about 12.30pm on September 19 last year.

Buffett was driving a Ford vehicle and he had a teen passenger, who has name suppression and has also pleaded guilty to the same charges. They are described in the summary as being “close associates of Black Power”.

Two utes with Mongrel Mob members inside were stopped on Malfroy Rd at the traffic lights waiting to turn right into Old Taupō Rd.

The Ford approached the intersection and stopped behind one of the utes then immediately reversed about 10 metres, the summary said.

The teen passenger disguised himself by pulling a hood over his head and a scarf over his face, leant out the window and produced a pistol, firing five times.

Both ute drivers drove to Old Taupō Rd with the Ford vehicle in pursuit. One of the utes reversed back towards Malfroy Rd and intentionally collided with the Ford, causing it to spin out of control and stop facing west on Malfroy Rd.

The drivers of all three vehicles then sped off.

One of the bullets shattered the rear window of a ute carrying Mongrel Mob members, according to the summary.

Another bullet travelled through the open window of a member of the public’s car that was waiting at the traffic lights. The bullet lodged into the interior lining of the vehicle.

No one was hurt.

Lawyer for Buffett, Andy Hill, asked for his client’s sentencing to be put off until September to ensure he could be sentenced alongside his co-offender.

Judge McDonald asked whether it was so each could blame the other.

Hill said the roles they played were clear and there was no dispute.

Judge McDonald said he had picked up Judge Maree Mackenzie’s list today because she was unwell and he had spent the past hour reading the material.

“And then he [Buffett] just decides ‘no, I don’t want to do it’?” Judge McDonald said to Hill.

Hill responded Buffett wasn’t aware Judge Mackenzie wouldn’t be there and usually co-offenders were sentenced together. A police prosecutor agreed with Hill.

When Hill referred to the co-offender as the “principal” offender and Buffett as a “party” to the offending, Judge McDonald disagreed.

“He is not a party. It was a bit of luck he decided to drive that day rather than the other guy.”

Judge McDonald said he agreed to the adjournment with the “greatest of reluctance” but noted there should be no variances made to Buffett’s bail between now and September 6 that would allow him to “wander around the country”.

The judge was concerned the next date was in September.

“It’s almost a year after these two fired a gun, a pistol, in the middle of the afternoon in Rotorua.

“You can take from what I am saying that I view this offending extremely seriously. It’s probably in your interests you get an adjournment.”

As Buffett left the dock, Judge McDonald said: “It’s probably best next time you come back you don’t stand in the dock chewing your gum.”

Kelly Makiha is a senior journalist who has reported for the Rotorua Daily Post for more than 25 years, covering mainly police, court, human interest and social issues.