Police raid the gang pad during their Operation Pakari, launched in respect to a spree of violence in 2022. Photo: NZ Police
A patched gang member suffered a collapsed lung, fractured eye socket and fractured ribs after a beating that lasted several hours and involved various weapons, including a hammer and a child's bike.
The Mongrel Mob attack in 2022 was during a period of violent offending by the chapter across several months.
On Monday, Rameka Joseph Rangi-Te Rito appeared in the High Court at Christchurch to be sentenced for kidnapping.
Rangi-Te Rito, and at least another eight patched members and associates of the Aotearoa chapter, arrived at the 28-year-old victim's Invercargill address while he was at home with his children.
The summary of facts revealed the victim was told to get into a "Mob car" but instead ran into a shed on the property where he was assaulted by members who delivered a series of kicks and punches to his body, head and face.
Various items in the shed, including a child's bicycle, pieces of timber and tools were used during the assault.
He was dragged out to the car while Rangi-Te Rito was in another car that followed behind.
The Mongrel Mob pad in Albion St, Mataura, which the Crown is attempting to confiscate after it was used for the brutal beating of a member who wanted to leave the gang. Photo: NZ Police
The court heard he was taken to the Mataura Mongrel Mob pad where he suffered further injuries.
He was then driven to the house of chapter captain Turoirangi Harmer-Elers who told him if he didn't comply with sanctions placed on him, he would be assaulted again.
A member was directed to take him to Gore Hospital, but en route, changed their mind and decided to drop him back at home.
He pleaded with the driver to take him to hospital and was eventually dropped off where he was assessed as in a serious condition and transferred to Southland Hospital.
The court heard Rangi-Te Rito, 40, had been on bail since the August 2022 incident. He had no previous convictions, was a father of six, and had since been employed.
Rangi-Te Rito still connected to the gang
Justice Jonathan Eaton said Rangi-Te Rito had a commitment and loyalty to the gang, which led to "nasty and stand-over offending" against somebody he probably knew.
Justice Eaton said that while Rangi-Te Rito had not severed ties with the gang, he had engaged with help and secured employment.
There was premeditation; it was a planned kidnapping over a period of hours, and Rangi-Te Rito was among others with a shared understanding to detain the victim and take him to the gang pad, the judge said.
Rangi-Te Rito was sentenced to eight months' home detention and told not to associate with the victim or communicate with the gang without approval.
Operation Pakari: Complex, detailed
Six Mataura Mongrel Mob members were found guilty in August of a number of serious assaults and kidnapping in 2022.
Police described Operation Pakari as a complex, detailed investigation into violent offending by the gang across several months.
The first incident, in late January 2022, spurred further offences in the form of drive-by shootings and violent assaults, which left people with critical injuries.
The termination of the operation in June 2023 resulted in 21 people being put before the courts on a range of charges.
Six Mongrel Mob members went on trial in Christchurch in July on 12 charges, including wounding with intent to cause grievous bodily harm, kidnapping, and injuring with intent to injure.
The victims of the assaults were Mongrel Mob members and in most cases, unco-operative with police.
Authorities are now making legal moves to confiscate the Mongrel Mob's Matuara pad.
Crown lawyers have applied for a forfeiture order covering the gang headquarters and a next-door section in Albion St, with a combined rateable value of $347,000.
- This story originally appeared in the New Zealand Herald