Two men, one of them a Napier nightclub staff member, were attacked in a drive-by shooting outside a bar in West Quay.
Video / Supplied / Chris Hyde
The Napier nightclub shooting was a shocking act of violence. But a court-enabled look inside Hawke's Bay's gang underworld show the truce that should have prevented it was breached months before.
There were 13 gang-relatedshooting incidents in Hawke's Bay in the eight months before two men opened fire on patrons outside dockside Napier nightspot the Thirsty Whale earlier this year.
Many were random targeting of homes perceived to be linked to rival gang members or families thereof, court documents show.
Seven had happened in the month before the shooting in which three people were injured, and a .22 bullet from a self-loading rifle fired in the street outside went through the hair of a woman inside the pub, an estimated "inch" from hitting the customer in the head.
Police said there was a long history of Mongrel Mob-Black Power conflict in the Eastern Police District, and believed that as of October last year, there were more than 1200 gang members in the region (including 853 associated with the Mongrel Mob and 310 with Black Power).
Police returned to the scene a few days after the February 28 shooting as they tried to unravel what had happened. Photo / NZME
They said the shooting and other incidents breached gang rules against bringing conflict into the public arena.
The details are contained in summaries of facts produced in Napier District Court, where two men on Thursday admitted their roles in the shooting, which happened early on the Sunday morning of February 28 this year.
Police said Temihana Hetaraka Hare George Henare, 24, a Mongrel Mob Hawke's Bay chapter member, who was at the time wanted on warrant to arrest for other offences, fired eight shots and Mongrel Mob Aotearoa member Waka Selwyn Tither, 27, fired twice.
Each pleaded guilty to multiple charges, the most serious of which – wounding with intent to cause grievous bodily harm – has a penalty of up to 14 years' imprisonment.
They have been remanded in custody for sentencing in the court on February 25.
Injured in the shooting spree were two Raupunga men said to be members of the Manga Kaha patch of rivals Black Power, and a security staff member was also hit.
Police said two of the shots that caused injury were fired deliberately and the other, towards a nightspot crammed with about 200 people, was reckless.
The summary said Henare, Tither and an unidentified third man drove to West Quay and parked opposite the main entrance to the Thirsty Whale, where people were queued waiting to be allowed in as others left, while others were outside neighbouring Paddy's Irish Bar.
Soon afterwards six men, referred to by police as the "Black Power group", arrived in a black van and the two groups began "taunting each other and positioning themselves for a fight". And a fight developed after bottles were thrown at a group including Henare and Tither.
Tither returned to a car to get the firearm, which was wrapped in a black sweatshirt, then walked a few steps before taking aim at Jason Thornton, who was shot in one hand. Tither then fired at Thornton's brother, Hayden, but the shot missed and hit a Thirsty Whale employee in the groin.
Henare then shot fleeing Jordan Biddle in the back.
More shots were fired, hitting the buildings and one passing through a window at the Thirsty Whale - it was seen to pass through the hair of a patron and a TV screen before lodging in a wall near the bar staff.