Hamilton man Marty Te Rangi was jailed for three years and three months after stabbing two rival gang members in a pub carpark. Photo / 123rf
Spotting rival gang members in a suburban parking lot, Crips gang member Marty Te Rangi and his two associates were quick to spark up a fight.
But within minutes, Te Rangi was being handed a knife which he then plunged into the torso of one of the victims, and into the abdomen of the other.
Te Rangi, 37, appeared for sentence in the Hamilton District Court on Friday on two charges of wounding with intent to cause grievous bodily harm before Judge Denise Clark.
It was about 6pm on February 5 this year, when Te Rangi and his co-defendants arrived in their blue Holden at the Hillcrest Tavern on Clyde St.
His co-defendants first spotted the victims, wearing red caps, walking across the tavern carpark toward The Warehouse.
Due to the rival affiliations, the co-defendants sparked a verbal tirade with the victims, before it escalated to a verbal fight and Te Rangi jumped in.
The fight continued for several minutes before a co-defendant produced a large “K-Bar” style knife and gave it to Te Rangi.
The trio then charged the two victims, kicking and punching them several times, and Te Rangi stabbed one of the victims in the torso after he was knocked to the ground.
A co-defendant then stomped on his head.
Te Rangi stopped the second victim from running away by kicking him to his right leg, causing him to fall. He then approached him, as the victim tried to get away, and stabbed him once in the right abdomen.
Te Rangi and one of his co-defendants briefly chased after the two victims as they escaped, before giving up and returning to their vehicle.
The victims were hospitalised, with the first person suffering a 10cm deep stab wound which also lacerated his liver and saw him admitted to Waikato Hospital’s high dependency unit.
The second victim was treated and released for his stab wound on the same day.
Counsel Charles Bean provided references and letters from not only Te Rangi, but his whānau and employer, adding that he was “held in high-esteem in the community”.
Te Rangi wanted the victims to know how sorry he was and how he wanted to become a better role model for his whānau and “become the person he should be”.
Bean urged Judge Clark to issue up to 35% in discounts, including up to 10% for good character, in the hope of an end jail term of three years.
He accepted his good character discount should be tempered by his past criminal offending but said he didn’t often see someone with so much support, especially from their employer.
Crown solicitor Kasey Dillon said Te Rangi shouldn’t get any discount for previous good character given his history and labelled the incident as “unprovoked and gratuitous violence” on rival gang members.
He acknowledged Te Rangi’s positive comments from his employer but said “good work habits are not indicative of good character”.
He also urged Judge Clark not to issue any discount for addiction as the defendant himself had admitted that his addiction wasn’t a factor in the stabbing and asked her to keep the discounts to a maximum of 25%.
Judge Clark noted Te Rangi’s comments in his remorse letter that he intended to “learn from the experience” and noted his behaviour was “completely inappropriate and unacceptable”.
“You also know that this whole thing could have been handled in a different way and you have talked about being better equipped in the future to deal with things in a non-violent way.”
He also acknowledged the harm he’d caused his whānau by getting caught up in the fracas.
Judge Clark agreed he was remorseful and had a Once Were Warriors upbringing that involved violence and deprivation and limited previous good character discount to 5%.
She jailed Te Rangi for three years and three months and told him she hoped that the things he had written about in his letter “are the things that you focus on”.
“When you are back in the community just choose to do things that support your family unit and move forward in a positive way.”
Belinda Feek is an Open Justice reporter based in Waikato. She has worked at NZME for nine years and has been a journalist for 20.
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