Witness says he’s not lying

A man affiliated with the Mongrel Mob denied he was lying in court to protect a member of the gang from a murder charge, saying instead he was putting right a lie.

But he accepted he had often flouted court orders, which the Crown suggested meant he had no respect for the justice system.

Meanwhile, a gang expert said an alleged humiliation inflicted on the slain man ran completely counter to gang culture.

Micaiah Ruatiti gave evidence in the High Court at Palmerston North yesterday about an interaction involving himself, a man who has name suppression and Joseph William Johnson.

Johnson and Chea Paratene Charles Brattle-hemara Haeana, who goes by the surname Hemara, are on trial over the killing of Palmiro Macdonald.

Macdonald, a Nomads gang member who had its patch tattooed on his back, went missing from Horowhenua in March 2016. His body was found by a hunter in bush near Shannon in October 2016.

The man with name suppression earlier told the trial he knew both Macdonald and Johnson, and was with Johnson in Palmerston North a month after Macdonald went missing.

The pair smoked methamphetamine before Johnson said he killed Macdonald as payback for taxing property, shooting him in the back of the head, the man said. But Ruatiti, who described himself as a former member of the Mongrel Mob, said that did not happen. He said he was in a car with Johnson when the man and Ruatiti had a general conversation before wishing each other well. The man never spoke to Johnson, Johnson made no mention of Macdonald and no methamphetamine was smoked, he said. Ruatiti denied lying in court to cover for Johnson, a Mongrel Mob member, saying he was trying to right the man’s lie.

Dr Jarrod Gilbert, who has researched New Zealand gangs for more than a decade, also gave evidence yesterday.

Palmiro Macdonald went missing in March 2016.

He was called by the defence to comment on the Crown assertion a red bandanna found around Macdonald’s neck was tied there as a final insult. Gangs had a long history of wanting to take each other’s colours, patches and clothing in battles, Gilbert said. ‘‘They were the prizes of war.’’ Placing a red bandanna around Macdonald’s neck as an insult ran counter to that.

In his research he had not found something similar happening before.

However, he could not think of a reason why a member from one gang would tie another gang’s colours around their own neck.

The trial continues.