Black Power gang member Te Kuri Samuel dealt drugs from house in respectable Nelson street

Te Kuri Samuel's wish to remove himself from the life of a Black Power gang member did not convince a judge, who said he was "well practised" in what he said.

A man who grew up to become a patched member of the Black Power gang might have had a chance at a clean life had he remained with his nan.

Regrettably, a judge said, Te Kuri Samuel’s parents decided against his remaining with the woman who’d been a major stabilising influence in his life.

Despite the 37-year-old’s assurances that he wanted to distance himself from the gang, have his facial tattoo removed and get a foothold on a better path, Judge Tony Snell at sentencing in the Nelson District Court that it was a comment often repeated, yet here he was again.

“You are well-practised in what you say,” Judge Snell said.

Samuel, wearing a grey sweatshirt, sat slumped in a chair in a small room within Christchurch men’s prison, listening via video link as Judge Snell ran up and down the sentencing scale of uplifts and then credits, to arrive at a prison term of three years and seven months on drugs, firearms and ammunition charges plus a domestic violence charge.

The drug dealing from a house in a bungalow-lined, respectable central Nelson street was mostly methamphetamine, plus a lesser amount of LSD and cannabis.

The prison term was for the lead, representative charge of dealing methamphetamine, or the “40 offers” recorded during police surveillance from December 2022.

Data retrieval from Samuel’s communications led to a police search of the house in February 2023 when they found 15g of meth, 10 tabs of LSD and 50g of cannabis plus a cut-down.22 rifle and 12-gauge shotgun in three parts, but the barrel was loaded and able to be assembled in seconds.

Judge Snell noted an “interesting aspect” of the shotgun rounds was that some of the cartridges had been emptied of the steel shot and replaced with broken glass.

Samuel, who has 62 previous convictions, added another to his latest tally for kicking his partner in the chest so hard she ended up with a head injury from being knocked to the ground with force.

He eventually admitted charges of supplying meth, plus offering to supply LSD and offering to sell cannabis, plus two charges of unlawful possession of firearms and ammunition, and a charge in January 2023 of assault on a person in a family relationship.

Judge Snell noted the guilty pleas had arrived late — in August this year, and only days before a scheduled judge-alone trial.

The Crown described Samuel as a “busy street dealer” motivated at least in part by profit, while Judge Snell described him as having “no real influence” on those above him in the chain.

‘Pretending to be tough’

Defence lawyer Tony Bamford said Samuel conceded, by his own frank admission, that he was introduced to drug consumption and offending from a young age.

“This is not him posturing. He’s spent much of his life acting out and pretending to be tough,” Bamford said.

A list of reports into Samuel’s background made for “very sad reading”.

Samuel spoke very little English and only te reo until the age of 9, when he was left to educate himself.

Bamford said Samuel’s letter to the court took two or three days to write.

Judge Snell said he had read the letter but it did little to dampen the reports that assessed Samuel at a high risk of reoffending and continuing to cause a high level of harm in the community.

“You say you want to change your life and apologise to all those you have hurt.

“You had a good upbringing with your nan until you were 9, and you were encouraged and felt safe but regrettably your parents decided against your wish, and discontinued that to bring you up themselves.”

Judge Snell said Samuel was then exposed to violence, gangs and a lifestyle where drug use was common.

“It’s no surprise you have ended up being a patched gang member,” he said.

From a starting point of five years in prison, Judge Snell arrived at the final sentence after Samuel was given discounts for his guilty pleas, and for factors in his background.

He was sentenced to prison on all charges with the terms to be served concurrently.

Tracy Neal is a Nelson-based Open Justice reporter at NZME. She was previously RNZ’s regional reporter in Nelson-Marlborough and has covered general news, including court and local government for the Nelson Mail.