Couple sentenced over threatening flyers

Wanting to ‘‘create fear and division,’’ a Pākehā couple donned disguises to deliver ‘‘threatening’’ posters around Nelson under the cover of night.

The 65-year-old man and 56-year-old woman, both from Nelson, were sentenced on charges of making available false documents in the Nelson District Court yesterday.

While Judge Jo Rielly lifted the name suppression that has been in place for the couple since they were charged last year, their lawyer Michael Vesty told the court he planned to lodge an appeal.

While this is pending, the couple’s name suppression will remain in place, which limits Stuff’s ability to report the context of the offending.

In her summary, Judge Rielly outlined the offending, which took place on 10 November, 2020.

Between 8pm and 9.30pm, the couple entered the Nelson CBD in their car. Disguised in wigs and hats, the couple distributed the flyers to galleries, the library, a jeweller and other small businesses, slipping them under doors or sticking them onto shopfronts.

The flyers featured the images of academic Atama Moa and TV personality Shane Te Hāmua Wilkins-Nikora, using their English names and identifying their workplace or careers.

The text was copied from a Facebook group, of which the men are members, and referenced cultural appropriation. ‘‘If you are non-Maori (sic) and using our culture in your business you will be targeted. We will hunt you down,’’ the flyer read.

‘‘[The flyers] caused alarm and fear to people the following morning when they got to work,’’ Rielly said. ‘‘[The recipients] believed the message was from the males depicted; just as you had both intended.

‘‘They felt shocked, threatened, unsettled, confused, unsafe, nervous, insulted, offended, anxious and sickened. Many were fearful of the males and how they had conveyed themselves in flyers.’’

The flyers were intended to ‘‘create fear and division’’, Rielly said. Twelve recipients reported

the flyers to the police.

The men featured on the poster were upset by the use of their images, Rielly said.

‘‘They were upset they have been stripped of their cultural identity. They feel their whakapapa has been compromised ... They have every right to be upset you did this, you represented a message they did not convey.’’

When police searched the couple’s workplace and home, the female defendant claimed she had not made or distributed the flyers. However, police found clothing identical to that seen on the CCTV footage, including a distinctive hat. They also found documents with printed comments from the flyer, and a typed, unsigned statement titled ‘‘Confession time’’.

In the document, the author explained the reasons behind creating the flyers. ‘‘Confession time: I stuck up the ... posters around Nelson.’’

However, the following May, the woman admitted responsibility, saying it was her idea. Her initial denial had led to police resources being distracted, Rielly said.

The couple had donned disguises because of fear of retribution, they told the police. They also said they had had ‘‘fun’’ delivering the 18 or so flyers around Nelson, Rielly said.

Rielly told the couple they lacked remorse, and insight into the impact on their victims, and had continued to attempt to justify their actions.

Wilkins-Nikora’s video victim impact statement was played in court. ‘‘I’m surprised to be called the victim...’’ Wilkins-Nikora said. ‘‘The way I see things, if I’m the victim I should be the one whose name is suppressed.

‘‘I don’t understand why [they] have been allowed to keep their names hidden when it was my name they used to create that fraud.’’

Hiding wasn’t his style, Wilkins-Nikora said.

‘‘[The male defendant] hid himself away under a balaclava and delivered these pamphlets threatening to hurt other Pākehā under darkness. This Māori is not a coward, would never do that.’’

Moa also expressed a sense of irony at the continued name suppression.

‘‘The nature of their crime was slandering our names and Māori culture all over Nelson... yet they want their own names suppressed, ’’ he said via text message.

If the appeal was quashed, the balance would be redressed, Moa said.