Touring the patch

By yesterday the Mob convoy had grown to a dozen vehicles and their route took in most of the North Island. Picture / Sarah Ivey

The last thing Mongrel Mob Rogue Chapter president James "Triple M" Ford wanted when he died was to lie around on a marae.

So Mob members are honouring his wishes by taking his body around the North Island, stopping to visit chapter members, graveyards and prisons along the way.

"That's what the brother wanted," a Mob member told the Weekend Herald.

The road trip started in Auckland yesterday - two days after his death - and the first stop was Auckland Prison at Paremoremo around noon.

The entourage then headed south, stopping at the urupa (cemetery) on Taupiri Mountain before heading through the Waikato and King Country.

By yesterday afternoon four car-loads of Mob members were waiting on the forecourt of the Te Awamutu Shell service station, gassing up their vehicles and snacking.

Eventually about a dozen cars, vans and four-wheel-drives were heading south to Waikeria Prison.

But police and prison guards had set up a road block near the prison, and the cars were turned round and put back on the main road.

The convoy is expected to continue through Wanganui, Wellington, Wairarapa and Hawkes Bay before stopping in Maketu in the Bay of Plenty where a tangi will be held next week.

The Weekend Herald understands Ford's body is being transported in an appropriate vehicle - a 1999 Ford Falcon AU Futura Stationwagon.

Ford, nicknamed Littleman, had a long list of convictions, including manslaughter. He died of complications of diabetes early on Wednesday.

His death was a shock to Mob members, especially to a man by the name of Pop, who described himself as a "brother" of Ford's for 25 years.

"For a lot of people it hasn't sunk in. I thought that bugger would be around forever - you couldn't get rid of him," he said.

"Brother Littleman, his whole buzz - like the Rogue Chapter - was no fixed abode. That was just something he always talked about, if he ever died he wanted to go for a cruise instead of sitting on the marae."

On Wednesday night, up to 150 of the Mob took Ford's body to the Youth Justice Residential Centre in South Auckland where one of his relatives is serving time.

It is understood the relative was allowed to spend about 20 minutes with the body.

The members then returned to the centre on Thursday morning asking for the relative to be released so they could attend the tangi.

A Child Youth and Family spokeswoman yesterday refused to comment on whether the relative would be allowed out, citing privacy reasons.

However, the Weekend Herald understands the relative has been granted a five-day bail by the courts to attend the tangi.

- Additional reporting Simon O'Rourke