12 mobsters in court over fatal clash

A depositions hearing relating to the killing of Murupara teenager Jordan Herewini and related charges involving 12 Mongrel Mob members began in Rotorua yesterday.

Jordan, 16, died at his home on January 27 after being run down by a ute in a gang-related incident in Murupara.

One of the defendants, 32-year-old Quentin Duane Pukeroa, has been charged with murdering Jordan.

The other 11 defendants face various charges relating to incidents which occurred before and after the fatal incident.

The Crown alleges Pukeroa and the other defendants, all from Kawerau, were in Murupara for a tangi and went looking for a group they believed responsible for an attack on some of their members earlier in the day.

As well as the murder charge, Pukeroa faces charges of attempted murder, assault with a tomahawk, axe and metal bar as weapons, injuring with intent to cause grievous bodily harm, participating in a criminal group to commit aggravated burglary and two counts of entering a building to commit a crime with weapons.

The other defendants face dozens of charges between them, ranging from injuring with intent to cause grievous bodily harm to participating in a criminal group to commit crimes.

The hearing before justices of the peace is expected to take two weeks.

- NZPA