Black Power trio guilty of brutal attack

"Sorry mum. It’s all good mum. I love you mum."

Black Power Taranaki member Laurence Te Ruki.

A Black Power member apologised to his mother after he and two others were found guilty of a gangland hit in New Plymouth.

On Friday Laurence Te Ruki, a patched member of the Taranaki Black Power, William Pouha, the president of the gang’s Christchurch chapter, and Zinzan Tamou were found guilty of a vicious attack on Rory Ruddell in August last year after a trial in the New Plymouth District Court.

As he was taken to the cells Te Ruki called out to his mother, who had been in court all week.

‘‘Sorry mum. It’s all good mum. I love you mum,’’ he said.

The trio had been on trial before Judge Chris Sygrove, charged with causing grievous bodily harm with intent to cause grievous bodily harm to Ruddell and participating in an organised criminal group.

After retiring to consider the verdict on Thursday the jury, of eight men and four women, returned about 11.30am on Friday with unanimous guilty verdicts.

Extra police staff and court security were in the courtroom and as the decisions were delivered family members in the public gallery broken down in tears.

Others gang members made Black Power salutes with their fists and yelled the gang’s war cry ‘‘Yoza’’ and ‘‘Yo f...ing Yo’’.

Some expressed their anger at the decision by verbally abusing court staff and police.

Pouha, an imposing presence standing 1.83m tall with a shaved head and the gang’s fist tattooed on both cheeks and across his throat, stood emotionless with his hands clasped behind his back.

Tamou made the gang’s fist salute to supporters in the gallery.

Sygrove remanded the trio in custody to reappear for sentencing on December 14.

Detective Sergeant Gerard Bouterey said the verdicts were a good result for the community.

‘‘The assault that occurred was a violent assault in the middle of the day in a residential neighbourhood, where any member of the public could’ve seen it and attempted to intervene and who knows what may or may not have happened,’’ Bouterey said.

He thanked the members of the public who had the courage to contact police about the assault.

Ruddell was viciously beaten outside a Spotswood house on August 13, 2016. The attack left him with a broken nose, severely swollen face and bruising to his body after three men rained down kicks and punches on him while he was on the ground.

Pools of blood were visible on the grass verge and roadside at the scene.

Tamou lured Ruddell to his Tahurangi Pl house on the ruse of buying some dive gear from him but immediately after he arrived Te Ruki turned up with three other men who ambushed him and carried out the violent beating.

Pouha ordered the hit and during the attack one of the assailants held a phone up in front of Ruddell so Pouha could explain on loud speaker he was being beaten because he had gone to his ‘‘niece’s’’ address with a firearm.