Police talk to people waiting outside the courthouse while
Black Power and Mongrel Mob members appear in court. Photos
by staff photographers.
The president of the Dunedin chapter of Black Power and a
teenage associate of the Mongrel Mob fresh from a four-year
prison sentence for shooting at police were two of four men
before the Dunedin District Court yesterday in relation to a
gang-related shooting in the city.
Unprecedented security, including officers armed with
police-issue Bushmaster rifles at each entrance, was in place
at the Dunedin courthouse in lower Stuart St as the men,
three from Black Power and one from the Mongrel Mob, were due
to appear.
Three of the men were arrested following a confrontation
between the rival gangs in Allenby Ave, Liberton, on Sunday
afternoon, during which a man was shot in the arm.
While two more men were arrested yesterday, including the
victim of the shooting, others arrested on Sunday have since
been released without charge.
Detective Sergeant Chris Henderson said police were still
looking for "several" other people they believed were involved,
including 19-year-old Dylan Hill.
Much police work was still going on around the case, he said.
As the gang members appeared in court, patched members of the
Mongrel Mob milled around in Stuart St outside the
courthouse, denied entry by the armed officers.
About a dozen other police were also stationed inside and
outside the building.
Inspector Dave Miller said the extra police security at
the court was a precautionary measure to ensure the safety of
the public and to stop any potential for gang tension to
heighten.
The four men before the courts were remanded in custody - two
by consent - and will reappear tomorrow, three to answer an
indictably-laid (more serious) charge of unlawful assembly
and the other a less serious charge of disorderly behaviour
likely to incite violence.
Black Power president Albert Epere (43), who was shot in the
arm during the confrontation on Sunday afternoon, was
arrested yesterday on his release from hospital.
He did not appear in court, but was given a registrar's
adjournment to tomorrow on a charge of unlawful assembly, and
remanded in custody by consent until then.
He is jointly charged with three others, including Black
Power member labourer Daniel Moana Ryan (45) and a man who
was remanded in custody by consent to Thursday and granted
interim name suppression.
Armed police stand outside the main entrance to the Dunedin
courthouse yesterday.
Police opposed Ryan's application for bail and, despite
raising concerns about not having a summary of facts or having
seen any evidence of Ryan's specific involvement in the
incident, Judge Stephen O'Driscoll decided it was in the public
interest to decline bail because of the risk of further
offending if the defendant was released.
Tyrone Kamal Henare (19) was also declined bail on a charge
of disorderly behaviour likely to cause violence.
Judge O'Driscoll noted Henare was recently released from
prison after serving a four-year, three-month sentence
imposed after he shot at police officers, and that with a
history of offending on bail, was a high risk of reoffending
if released on bail.
Det Sgt Henderson said another man would appear in the
Dunedin District Court today. The public could expect to see
extra police security around the courthouse again tomorrow
when members of both gangs were scheduled to reappear.
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