Rotorua Black Power member Ben Tihi jailed for slicing legs of man wearing red shoes in gang attack

Ben Tihi appears in the Rotorua Distirct Court. Photo / Andrew Warner

Ben Tihi took a machete from one of his Black Power mates and swung it at a man wearing red shoes, slicing the man’s leg to the bone and badly cutting his other ankle.

As the man lay nearly bleeding to death outside a Rotorua home, Tihi and his group stripped the man of his shoes and took them as a “trophy”.

Tihi’s actions have been described as a “cowardly” daylight gang attack by Black Power-affiliated men on the man, described in court documents as a Mongrel Mob associate.

Tihi, a 30-year-old patched member of the Black Power Outbackz group, appeared in the Rotorua District Court for sentencing before Judge Anna Skellern on Thursday on a charge of wounding with intent to cause grievous bodily harm.

Judge Skellern described the attack, saying the man wearing red shoes was walking alone on Manuka Cres about 4.50pm on October 11 when two carloads of Black Power gang members drove past.

Judge Skellern said the man pulled a gang signal at the first vehicle, which was noticed by the second vehicle containing Tihi.

The Black Power and Mongrel Mob gang patches. Photo / NZME

The men in the car got out and chased the man wearing red shoes, who ran to a house on Old Taupo Rd to seek refuge.

The men beat him with several blows to his head. Tihi took a machete belonging to one of the other men and sliced the victim’s leg and ankle before the Black Power group drove off.

Judge Skellern said they took the red shoes with them as a “trophy”.

“This was a matter of serious gang violence. It really was a cowardly attack,” she said.

If it were not for a person at the house treating the victim’s wounds, he would have bled to death.

He was taken to Rotorua Hospital, where he was put in an induced coma for two days, before he was taken to Waikato Hospital to have surgeries to reattach tendons on both legs.

Judge Skellern said the victim still had trouble walking and was likely to suffer ongoing issues from his injuries.

A victim impact statement partially read to the court was “really troubling”, Judge Skellern said.

Aside from the serious physical injuries, the victim had ongoing fears for his safety and visions of being “chased down”.

Tihi’s starting point of nine years’ imprisonment was reduced following submissions from his lawyer, Tim Braithwaite, about Tihi’s tragic upbringing in violent, abusive and gang surroundings, his remorse and earlier attempts to get his life on track.

Crown prosecutor Kris Bucher said he accepted Tihi had been working on a farm before the offending and was distancing himself from the gang.

However, he said there were some underlying concerns, particularly comments he made to report writers before sentencing, including “victim-blaming” by saying the man “should have shut his mouth and stopped spreading his gang shit to us”.

Bucher said it was also concerning Tihi had gained more gang tattoos since being in custody, which put into doubt any genuine attempts to pull away from the gang.

Judge Skellern noted a cultural report that detailed Tihi’s troubling background. His father was a patched gang member and was in an abusive relationship with his mother.

He was moved to live with his aunty elsewhere at a young age, where he suffered abuse and what Judge Skellern described as “cruelty”. He was sent back to live with his father and then to Australia to live with his mother.

Tihi became addicted to methamphetamine at age 15 and was eventually deported to New Zealand to be with his father, who at that stage had turned his life around and left the gang. But Tihi and his father’s relationship broke down, the judge said.

Tihi and his partner had two sons but before the offending, they had argued and his partner had taken the children. Judge Skellern said that was when Tihi made choices, including drinking alcohol, leading up to offending.

Tihi’s mother and partner were in court supporting him.

Judge Skellern accepted that remorse letters to the court and Tihi’s victim were genuine and were not just a “copied template”.

She gave a total of 40% discount on the nine-year starting point for a combination of his background, rehabilitation prospects and guilty plea.

The end sentence was five years and five months in jail.

Judge Skellern advised Tihi to step away from the gang for the sake of his children.

“If you don’t, you will spend their entire childhood in prison.”

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.