Man chases woman with machete, damages vehicle in gang-related incident

A109 Light Utility Helicopter flight with mayor Gisborne City from the air in November 2023.

A Mongrel Mob man aggrieved over a gang issue chased a woman around a residential street with a machete and used it to damage her vehicle.

The incident in Hansford Court, Kaiti, on November 19, last year, resulted in Steven Christopher Fa’Aea Parkinson, 37, being charged for wilful damage and possessing a knife in public.

He pleaded guilty in Gisborne District Court on Wednesday.

The court was told that when the woman got into her car to try to get away, Parkinson swung the machete at it for about 30 seconds before getting in his own vehicle and driving off while issuing a tirade of gang chants and gestures.

Because the charges were relatively low level, counsel Alistair Clarke asked the court to sentence Parkinson immediately. He would waive his right to a presentence report.

Mr Clarke submitted a sentence of 40 hours community work could suffice. However, Judge Warren Cathcart said that was too low given the gang-context of the offending and Parkinson’s two previous convictions for possessing offensive weapons.

The judge imposed 80 hours of community work. He said it was fortunate the charge for possessing the knife was only laid under the Summary Offences Act. Had it been laid under the Crimes Act, as were the previous convictions for weapons, Parkinson would have faced a presumptive sentence of imprisonment.

The value of damage caused to the complainant’s vehicle was unknown so the court could not order any reparation for it.