The identity of one of the two people jointly charged with murdering Mongrel Mob Barbarians gang president Steven Taiatini in Ōpōtiki can now be revealed.
Police allege Taiatini was fatally struck by a vehicle on St John St in the Eastern Bay of Plenty town following an altercation on the evening of June 9, 2023.
Name suppression lapsed for Richard Collins, 50, of Ōpōtiki when he appeared in the High Court at Tauranga today via an audiovisual link from prison.
His lawyer Steven Lack entered a not-guilty plea to the joint murder charge on Collins’ behalf.