Laymen Renata Pere, 42, Marcus Paul Panapa, 41, Donald Noel Collins-Roberts, 40, and Region Duncan, 20, all understood to be Mongrel Mob members or associates, appeared in the Dunedin District Court yesterday after they earlier pleaded guilty to assault with intent to injure.
The court heard that on November 22, 2024, the four defendants, along with two others, were sentenced inmates at Otago Corrections Facility as were the two victims.
The group were in the exercise yard and Duncan was talking to one victim before another defendant punched him in the face.
Pere then punched the man from behind and another victim walked over to the defendants and was surrounded by them.
Collins-Roberts attempted to punch the second victim, who then fell to the ground, and Pere kicked him while Collins-Roberts punched his head.
Duncan then delivered two more blows to the first victim’s head before continuing the attack with Panapa.
The first victim had a bleeding hand after the attack as well as a bruised eye and cut to his mouth.
The second victim had multiple grazes to his head.
Yesterday, Judge Hermann Retzlaff highlighted the level of violence used in the group attack.
The victims were vulnerable and surrounded by the defendants with no way to escape.
The judge noted each defendant had a difficult past and had all pleaded guilty at early stages in the process.
Judge Retzlaff sentenced Duncan to 10 and a-half months’ imprisonment on top of the sentence he was already serving, while Pere received nine and a-half months jail.
Collins-Roberts would serve an extra nine months on his current sentence for the attack and Panapa had eight months tacked on to his jail term.
In 2024, Panapa was sentenced to 13 years’ imprisonment for subjecting a woman to weeks of torture, The Press reported.
The offending against his former partner consisted of multiple beatings and threats, including spitting on her, kicking her head into a brick wall and holding a knife while he made her clean a mess on the floor.
Panapa also kept the woman inside for four days against her will.
Collins-Roberts was put behind bars last year for gang-related violence.
Two other defendants involved in the attack would be sentenced later in the year.
