The top jail has been completely destroyed and can no longer be used, Corrections Minister Kelvin Davis said. Video / Brett Phibbs / Mark Coote
One of the instigators of New Zealand’s largest and most destructive prison riots is eligible for immediate parole due to time already served on remand.
Ali Taipari, together with 16 others, clambered on to the roof of Waikeria Prison on December 29, 2020, where they would remain for six days causing at least $50 million worth of damage.
The intensity and severity of fires they lit saw Corrections officers having to help free trapped prisoners from their cells as the blaze swept through the facility southwest of Te Awamutu.
Taipari was a remand prisoner at Waikeria and was one of nine in the exercise yard who began causing upset after an argument with staff over razor blades.
Wooden structures and seats were set on fire and security cameras were covered with toilet paper before the group smashed their way onto the roof.
There, they began freeing other prisoners from their cells, with eight choosing to join the riot.
The efforts of Corrections officers to bring the situation under control proved fruitless and instead, they had to turn their focus on rescuing those trapped in their cells.
Taipari and his co-accused were meanwhile lighting fires, with the fire sweeping through the high-security wing of the complex, causing almost complete destruction.
Taipari wasn’t involved in the 12-week trial earlier this year after pleading guilty in December last year to representative charges of causing riot damage, arson, and assault with a weapon following a sentence indication from Justice Graham Lang with an 11-year, three-month starting point.
Various reports had since been gathered for Justice Lang to assess at today’s sentencing in the High Court at Hamilton, where the judge had to decide on which, and how much, discount to give Taipari.
The defendant’s cultural report revealed both Taipari’s father and grandfather were gang members, while Taipari himself joined Black Power when he was 14.
Ali Taipari's life of crime began after a dysfunctional childhood that involved gangs and violence. Photo / NZ Police
His father was absent most of his youth, due to either being in prison or on the run from police.
He was physically abused by his mother and other family members as a youngster, and when his father did return home when he was 11, he also beat his son.
Taipari started using cannabis and his life of crime began; from burglaries to kidnapping.
When he was big enough, he ended up becoming his mother’s protector against beatings from his father.
Justice Lang said it wasn’t surprising Taipari acted the way he did on the day of the riot - he had been surrounded by violence all of his life.
However, he said there were “glimmers of hope” for his rehabilitation. He had a job as a steel fixer lined up once he was out of prison and was also focused on getting his driver’s licence.
The judge said he personally found Taipari to be “a relatively straightforward person, as well as a person who wants to do the right thing”.
He gave Taipari a 25 per cent discount for his guilty plea, along with further discounts for remorse for the Corrections officers involved, his rehabilitative prospects, and his willingness to attend restorative justice.
Justice Lang came to an end term of six years and three months.
Taipari is now immediately eligible for parole as he has served a third of that sentence in custody.
The Crown sought a minimum period of imprisonment, however, Justice Lang ruled that out as there wasn’t sufficient material in the summary of facts - on which he was sentenced - to justify that.
Belinda Feek has been a reporter for 19 years, and at the Herald for eight years, joining the Open Justice team in 2022.
