Bradley Matenga Kahui, 35, who headed the Greymouth chapter of the Aotearoa Natives gang, and Jason Robert McKenzie, 33, his "right-hand man", are both in custody at Christchurch Men’s Prison and will stay there after sentencing late last week in the Greymouth District Court.
Kahui’s offending alone spans four Crown charging documents.
He was convicted of eight charges late last year including burglary with a weapon, assault with intent to injure, injuring with intent, threatening acts against a dwelling, and conspiracy to pervert the course of justice.
McKenzie was a co-offender in some of those charges.
Kahui pleaded guilty in October to amended charges of conspiring to commit assault with intent to injure, and attempting to pervert the course of justice, replacing an earlier charge of arson.
The victim of a fire-bombing orchestrated by Kahui from prison with the help of McKenzie spoke about the impact the gang’s "horrendous" offending had on her and her children.
They had witnessed a serious assault against another patched member in their home. The woman’s car was later torched in the driveway, close to where her children slept inside.
The woman read a statement from her youngest son: "You made me feel scared. I feel frightened that it will happen again. I feel scared to leave my mum in case someone hurts her."
The woman told the court: "It’s a burden a 7-year-old should never have to have."
Judge Stephen O’Driscoll commended the woman for her bravery and strength and for "not backing down" — effectively helping to end Kahui’s "reign of intimidation, violence and terrorism".
Kahui was arrested in May 2022 in relation to the aggravated burglary of the woman’s home.
Judge O’Driscoll said the fire-bombing of her car was an attempt to get her to retract her statement or not give evidence.
On June 1, 2022 Kahui started communicating with McKenzie through texts and calls from a cellphone in prison.
One text, citing concerns that Kahui was looking at a lengthy prison sentence for the aggravated burglary, said the woman needed to "drop her statement or get a mean-as bash".
A few weeks later the woman’s car was torched by gang prospect Blake Tomlin William Patterson. He has previously been dealt with by the court.
CCTV cameras captured Patterson’s actions, showing he had covered his face with a bandana and had a hood pulled up over his head.
Later that day, McKenzie texted Kahui the "car got done".
In March 2022, Kahui had assaulted a woman who confronted him about the gang selling cannabis to her teenage daughter.
According to the police summary of facts, Kahui grabbed the woman by her head and smashed it repeatedly into the door of a caravan, which police believed on several occasions had been used to sell cannabis outside the Natives’ old gang-pad in Cobden.
The court was told on Friday the Aotearoa Natives were now defunct.
Kahui had been the author of every offence, the judge said.
His offending had been "clearly premeditated" and occurred over a significant period, having a significant impact on his victims, and the West Coast community.
"I have no doubt that the actions of your gang frightened many in the Grey and Cobden area particularly, parading round in gang patches, and some of your victims are likely to have scars for many years", Judge O’Driscoll told Kahui.
The Crown sought a starting point for Kahui of between 13 and 14 years. McKenzie had a lesser starting point of six years. Both were given some discounts for rehabilitative prospects and their guilty pleas, sparing a trial.
Kahui was sentenced to eight years’ imprisonment and McKenzie three and a-half years.
— The Greymouth Star
