Black Power members from the Hāwera chapter gathered to support seven of its members and associates, who are not pictured, at their sentencing in July for an attack on a man at McDonald's. Photo / Tara Shaskey
Black Power members from the Hāwera chapter gathered to support seven of its members and associates, who are not pictured, at their sentencing in July for an attack on a man at McDonald's. Photo / Tara Shaskey
A masked Black Power member who was armed with a weapon when he began a gang attack on a “partially disabled” man wearing red at a McDonald’s is “p***ed off” an innocent person was beaten.
While waiting for his meal inside the family restaurant, the victim was stabbed and beaten by up to 13 Black Power members and associates, all because of the colour of his jersey.
Tuma Hori, 29, was one of the men who took part in the bashing at the Hāwera McDonald’s in South Taranaki on September 12 last year.
While some of the men remain unidentified, eight were arrested and charged for the sustained beating and in July, seven were sentenced.
The level of involvement in the attack varied between the men, and some were jailed while the rest were given home detention.
On Friday, Hori, the eighth arrested in relation to the incident, appeared in New Plymouth District Court where he was sentenced for his involvement.
The court heard that around 3.55pm on the day of the attack, the victim was walking along South Rd in Hāwera wearing a red jersey. Red is the colour worn by the Mongrel Mob.
As he was walking, he was spotted by Black Power members who believed he belonged to the rival gang.
Soon after he arrived at McDonald’s, two carloads of the gangsters arrived and confronted the victim.
The attack occurred at the Hāwera McDonald's while the victim was waiting for his meal.
Hori was wearing a balaclava and carrying a weapon, thought to be a hammer or a tyre iron. He approached the victim and punched him in the face, causing him to fall to the ground.
His co-offenders then joined in the attack and each delivered a number of kicks and punches to the man.
He was also stabbed in the torso by one of the gang members.
The 40-year-old victim told the court he lived with his parents and suffered from a mental impairment.
He kept to himself and was a regular at McDonald’s, where he once felt safe. The attack shook his world, he said.
Judge Tony Greig heard Hori deeply regretted the incident and the impact it had on the victim and the victim’s family.
But the judge questioned whether Hori would be as remorseful if the victim was, in fact, a member of a rival gang.
“Had this turned out to be a patched member of the Mongrel Mob it is hard to see that the remorse would have been the same,” he said.
“He is remorseful because they got the wrong man. They know that the man they got was partially disabled.”
In regards to the incident, Hori told a presentence report writer he had been at the gang pad when he was told by another Black Power member that a rival gang member was at McDonald’s.
“He said everything happened really quickly and he acted in the heat of the moment,” Judge Greig said, reading the report.
“When he found out that the victim was not affiliated with a rival gang he felt p***ed off that someone had been assaulted for no reason.
“He said he felt bad for what happened to the victim all because ‘some idiot had the wrong information’.”
Hori wanted to meet with the victim through the restorative justice process but the victim declined.
The report assessed Hori as a high risk of harm to others and, if he does not distance himself from the gang, a high risk of reoffending.
The report also said Hori was honest and engaging. He spoke of how his gang involvement was something he has felt internal conflict over since becoming a father.
He did not want to continue with the revolving door of the prison system and could picture a life outside the gang.
But he had no idea how to achieve that or whether that was even a reality for him.
“You’re in a gang because you were raised in a gang,” Judge Greig noted, referring to Hori’s father who is also a patched member.
A cultural report found Hori had profound issues with drugs and alcohol and experienced dysfunction as a child, which provided a nexus to his offending.
In sentencing him, Judge Greig took a start point of six years and six months’ imprisonment before adding a six-month uplift for previous offending.
Hori served time in jail for an attack on members of the rival gang, Rebels Motorcycle Club, at Manaia’s Waimate Hotel in 2018.
From the start point, the judge then gave credit for guilty pleas, background factors, remorse and totality.
Hori, who was sentenced on charges of wounding with intent to injure, participating in an organised criminal group, and an unrelated firearms charge, was then jailed for four years.
Judge Greig said he hoped Hori would focus on building a life with his partner and children once he was released.
“Otherwise you shouldn’t be a father to any children.”
Justice Helen McQueen is yet to release her decision.
Tara Shaskey joined NZME in 2022 as a news director and Open Justice reporter. She has been a reporter since 2014 and previously worked at Stuff where she covered crime and justice, arts and entertainment, and Māori issues.
