Gangster accused of murdering local teen

Teenager Jordan Herewini was run down with his father's car after tripping on a clothesline as he tried to escape Mongrel Mob members chasing him.
The 16-year-old died in the back yard of his Murupara home.
The man allegedly behind the wheel of the vehicle used to run down Jordan - 32-year-old Quentin Duane Pukeroa and 11 others associated with the Mongrel Mob, all from Kawerau, are the subject of a depositions hearing in Rotorua District Court before Justices of the Peace Barry Gaylard and Ron Hope. The hearing started yesterday.
Pukeroa is charged with murdering Jordan, while the other 11 defendants are charged with a range of offences, all alleged to have occurred in Murupara just prior to and following the teenager's death.
Only some of the accused stood up as the Justices of the Peace entered the courtroom yesterday. At one stage during the hearing, lawyer Brett Cooper was asked to wake his client, Jason Iopata, as he was snoring loudly.
Mr Gaylard also told defendants Lynette Teddy and Richard Faataape to stop holding hands.
"This is not the back seat of the movies," he said.
As the hearing got underway, defence lawyer Harry Edward conceded there was a case to answer for one of his clients, William Aramoana.
Midway through the day, he also conceded on behalf of his other client, Neville Duff.
 Crown Prosecutor Fletcher Pilditch said on January 27 there was a tangi in Murupara for a well-known man called Lucas Kapa.
Both Mongrel Mob and Tribesmen members were attending.
There were "tensions" in the township with a large presence of Mongrel Mob members there, Mr Pilditch told the court. Pukeroa and an associate, Kingi Gemmell, were sitting in a car outside an ATM machine in the town shopping centre when "a number of people came upon them" and a fight broke out. A short time later, Mongrel Mob members armed with weapons, including a tomahawk, axe and metal bar, started driving through the township in convoy, looking for the people involved.

The group went to homes in Matai St, where they smashed windows and found the Herewini family, who they believed to have been involved in the earlier incident, Mr Pilditch said.
Pukeroa was seen getting into a car parked at the Herewini home, driving through a fence and chasing Jordan and his brother Jamie Herewini as they tried to escape.
However, Jordan tripped and fell.
 "Witnesses will say he (Pukeroa) never took any evasive action, heading straight for Jordan ... he was struck by the vehicle driven by the defendant Pukeroa," Mr Pilditch said.
In evidence, Lauvain Ihe said she saw a convoy of vehicles about 8.15pm with a large number of patched Mongrel Mob members inside.
 She identified one of the accused, Lynette Teddy, as the driver of the white van.
Two youths who also gave evidence said they saw a grey car being chased through Pine Dr at high speed by a truck full of gang members.
Another witness, Wai Rerehu, was at the first house where the convoy stopped. She said she sent her partner, Edward Delamere, who is a Tribesmen member, to the store when she heard "barking". When she investigated she saw Mongrel Mob members on the back of a ute backing out of her yard.
 They returned a short time later with weapons and began smashing windows and property in her home.

Then a person driving the same car which is alleged to have been used to kill Jordan was driven up the kerb and headed towards her partner at speed, she said. He managed to jump out of the way.
The hearing is set down for two weeks.