A Mongrel Mob member has told a Rotorua District Court judge he was holding a knife intended to inflict damage to someone because he was in rival gang territory.
Kenneth George, 54, appeared in the Rotorua District Court on Thursday and pleaded guilty to a charge of possession of an offensive weapon at the Gull Service Station on Edmund Rd on August 8.
When Judge Greg Hollister-Jones ask George why he was carrying the knife, George said he needed to protect himself.
"I'll be honest with you. I was in n**ger (Black Power) hood. Do you expect me to lie on the ground. I have to protect myself. When you get 20 against one, what do you do?"
George, who chose to represent himself, tried to address Judge Hollister-Jones in Māori but the judge said he couldn't speak the language and if he wanted to put his point across well, he was better to speak in English.