Mace Raymond Sitope, from Māngere, celebrates AB's win over Ireland at Stad de France. Photo / @sudradiorugby
Mace Raymond Sitope, from Māngere, celebrates AB's win over Ireland at Stad de France. Photo / @sudradiorugby
A prominent Auckland 501 deportee managed to overcome a legal bid by Corrections to ground his Rugby World Cup trip, the Herald can reveal.
Now he’s gone viral in France for his heartfelt celebration of the All Blacks’ quarter-final triumph over Ireland.
Mace Raymond Sitope, aka Ray Elise, is allegedlythe president of the Māngere chapter of the Rebels Motorcycle Club.
Before he was deported from Australia under the controversial 501 legislation three years ago he was the influential head of the outlaw motorcycle gang’s Victoria chapter. Originally from Auckland, he is among the more well-known of the 501 deportees.
He was earlier sentenced to home detention for his role in a violent fracas in downtown Auckland on New Year’s Day 2021.
Elise had served his sentence of home detention and completed all required programmes but he was still subject to post-detention conditions requiring him to regularly report to a probation officer.
The saga began on September 29, when he asked his probation officer for permission to travel to France for the Rugby World Cup.
Mace Raymond Sitope, from Māngere, celebrates the All Blacks' win over Ireland at Stade de France. Photo / @sudradiorugby
Elise had about a month of post-sentence conditions remaining.
A Corrections spokeswoman said in a statement it declined the request because he gave less than 48 hours’ notice for the travel request.
On October 1, border alert systems activated as intended and he was stopped at Auckland Airport passport control attempting to board a flight to Doha.
The following day, his lawyer Bradley Moyer filed an urgent application in the Auckland District Court seeking to cancel the post-sentence conditions.
Auckland barrister Bradley Moyer managed to secure Mace Raymond Sitope, aka Ray Elise, the right to travel overseas for the Rugby World Cup. Photo / Dean Purcell
Moyer said Corrections had no grounds to refuse to grant permission for the trip, given travel restrictions were not part of his client’s post-detention conditions and he was not on any other active charges.
He also submitted Elise had completed all required programmes as part of his home detention sentence.
Corrections opposed the application.
The Corrections spokeswoman said it opposed the application because it had initially declined the request and, in the department’s view, Elise had been non-compliant with his conditions when he nevertheless attempted to travel.
In the end, a District Court judge granted Moyer’s application and Elise was allowed to leave the country.
Fast forward a couple of weeks and a TikTok post by French radio station Sud Radio, showing Elise’s impassioned celebrations as the whistle blew on the All Blacks’ 28-24 triumph over Ireland at Stade de France in Paris, has garnered 14,000 likes and counting.
Warning: explicit language
Speaking outside the stadium in another TikTok post showing fans reacting to Ireland’s exit, Elise paid tribute to his South Auckland roots and the All Blacks’ performance.
In his view, it was the All Blacks’ ability to go the full 80 that got the team over the line.
“All the way from 275 Māngere! We loved it, we loved it even more that New Zealand won,” he said.
“They played awesome, they’re an 80-minute team, I keep telling everyone they’re an 80-minute team.
“You could win the first half but, you know, we’re an 80-minute team.”
In 2021, after Elise allegedly took the reins of the Māngere chapter, the Rebels and King Cobras became embroiled in a tit-for-tat turf war over control of the area.
The King Cobras took issue with a Rebels’ social media post staking a claim to the area, a longstanding KCs stronghold.
Since they arrived in New Zealand around 13 years ago the Rebels MC has grown in strength. Photo / file
The conflict was characterised by drive-by shootings and Molotov cocktail fire-bombings of homes, cars and businesses.
A police investigation was hampered by a code of silence observed by both gangs, but arrests were eventually made and the feud died down.
The Rebels was the first Australian bikie gang to establish a presence in New Zealand a little over a decade ago.
In recent years it has been bolstered by senior members deported from Australia.
While the deportees are a small proportion of the thousands of so-called “501s”, named for the section of the immigration law used to remove them from Australia, dozens of them made their mark on New Zealand’s underbelly.
