Wheel braces, screw drivers, chains, and knives were among weapons used in the fight which trapped motorists at the service station, including a family with terrified young children who burst into tears. Surveillance footage showed the Tribesman group confronting members of the Bloods' gang. Circling, gesturing, taking up of fight stances, and throwing of punches and weapons preceded the brawl which also involved women.
"This was a full-on gang brawl in the middle of the day, in the middle of the town and it's unacceptable anywhere in New Zealand," Judge McDonald said in the Whangarei District Court this week.
"Any gang that engages in this sort of behaviour will be dealt with strenuously by the courts. If you want to scrap, do it in a paddock, not out on the street."
He said at least five concerned members of the public called 111. The fight, he said, continued until members of the public jumped in and pulled a fighting pair apart and pointed them off in different directions. Both gangs have had an ongoing dispute which had been simmering for some time.
Grace Brack, Major Brack, Levi Reeves, Nevada Beckham, Milan Ngamu and Skip Eruera are aligned with the Tribesman gang.
Rongomau Hori Tahere and Thomas Wharekawa are members of the rival gang.
Three others who were also involved in the brawl were youths who have been dealt with by Youth Aid.
Grace Brack and Wharekawa were this week sentenced to six months in jail, Reeves received 23 months, while Tahere will go to prison for six months if he could not secure a home detention address by December 15. Major Brack will be sentenced in the Kaikohe District Court on January 29, while the others are still before the court.
Judge McDonald was particularly critical of Grace Brack's role in the scrap and said she had a belief she could not walk away from trouble.
"Why you became involved while still on a sentence of intensive supervision and with three children in the car is beyond me," the judge said.
