Black Power enforcer wants to leave gang life and focus on whānau, Parole Board hears

Gordon Anthony Runga, the sergeant at arms for the Whanganui chapter of Black Power, has been denied release from jail by the Parole Board after a hearing in December. Photo / Leighton Keith

A Black Power sergeant at arms jailed for the killing of a rival is aiming to turn his back on intergenerational gang warfare to focus on his whānau.

Gordon Anthony Runga told the Parole Board at a hearing in December he was clear about the main risks to the safety of others when he left prison.

“First, he says that he needs to leave Whanganui and second, he needs to move away from his former associates,” panel convenor Neville Trendle said in the decision released to NZME on Tuesday.

Runga was aware of the gravity of his decision and had spoken to the gang’s president about “his need to step down from the gang to focus on his whānau”.

“He told us that his president had accepted his position and that he would be able to leave without anyone coming back on him.”

Runga, who has a final release date in October 2025, was sentenced to seven years imprisonment in February 2022 by Justice Rebecca Ellis in the High Court at Whanganui for the death of a Mongrel Mob member.

Patched mobster Kevin Neihana Ratana was shot dead on his front lawn in broad daylight on a residential street in the Castlecliff area of Whanganui on the morning of August 21, 2018.

Ratana’s mother, Rangitaumata Vakatini, had been spoken to by the board before the hearing.

“She repeated that she had forgiven Mr Runga and held no bitterness towards him as she needs to manage her own life with two moko who were Mr Ratana’s two sons,” Trendle said.

Runga acknowledged her generosity, the decision said.

Mongrel Mob member and father of two Kevin Ratana was shot dead by members of the Whanganui Black Power in August 2018. Photo / Supplied

While in prison, Runga was completing Mauri Tū Pae, a kaupapa Māori-based group rehabilitative programme, and his progress was confirmed to the board by his principal Corrections officer along with the successful outcome of his discussion with his gang associates.

His case manager reported Runga had received high praise from the facilitators of the programme for his engagement and the insight he had gained.

“For himself Mr Runga was not slow to acknowledge that he sometimes struggled but it is clear he has persevered throughout and will graduate with distinction.”

Despite Runga’s initial acceptance, he had not been assessed as suitable to attend the Drug Treatment Programme.

Trendle said having regard to Runga’s history of offending, the board was of the view a period of reintegration to enable him to consolidate the gains he has made and for them to be tested in a less structured environment was the next step.

“We support his progression on whatever activities can be made available starting with self-care and guided release and hopefully leading to release to work.”

Runga had been accepted for supported accommodation in New Plymouth and the board believed it would be helpful to develop the relationship.

However, the board declined parole for Runga but said he would be seen again before May 30 and requested that a brief parole assessment report outlining his progress on reintegration activities and an update on his release plan be prepared.

In total six Black Power members were convicted in relation to Ratana’s killing after a group of gang members, some wearing patches, face coverings and hoodies, armed themselves with poles and battens and went to his address to try to intimidate him to leave their territory.

After they began smashing Ratana’s car, he came out the front door carrying a loaded shotgun. He was hit in the neck with a solid slug and died instantly.

Runga, who himself had a shotgun, then fired two shots at the house to provide cover as other Black Power members fled the scene.

Before Ratana’s death there had been tensions between him and Black Power members as he was living in an area well-known as Black Power turf.

During one confrontation Ratana pulled a gun on two Black Power members and scared them off.

Black Power president Damien Shane Kuru and Runga were both found guilty in November 2021 of Ratana’s manslaughter following a seven-week murder trial in the High Court at Wellington.

Kuru received a jail term of five years and two months.

Of other Black Power members sentenced, Sheldon Rogerson pleaded guilty as a party to murder and was sentenced to six and a half years’ imprisonment; Damien Charles Fantham-Baker pleaded guilty to manslaughter and was jailed for five years and 10 months; while Anthony Kuru (no relation to Damien) was sentenced to five years and three months’ imprisonment after pleading guilty to manslaughter.

Hikitia Rawiri Hakaraia, known as Hikitia Box, was jailed for nine years and seven months after pleading guilty to manslaughter and another unrelated killing in April 2018.