Harawira slams nephews’ thuggery

Two booze-fuelled attacks involving nephews of MP Hone Harawira have landed one in prison and shamed the family.

A jury yesterday found Tohora Harawira, 21, and his brother Enesi Taito, 25, guilty of aggravated robbery after they fractured a man’s cheek and eye socket while drunkenly robbing him of his iPod in West Auckland in August 2011.

Wikatana Popata, 23, another nephew, hit two witnesses to try to stop them ‘‘narking’’ and was found guilty of two counts of assault.

It can now be revealed that Harawira and Taito were also accused of another boozy attack while on bail for the 2011 offending.

The pair – along with their older brother 30-year-old Mau Harawira – were charged with injuring with intent to injure, with the victim being a 12-year-old boy in Blockhouse Bay.

The charge against Tohora Harawira was withdrawn but Taito and Mau Harawira were found guilty of the attack, which Judge David Har- vey labelled ‘‘gutless and cowardly’’.

On Monday, Mau Harawira was jailed for three years but the names of his two brothers had been suppressed since the first trial to ensure the jury was not prejudiced in this week’s trial. The trio are sons of anti-violence campaigner Hinewhare Harawira, while Popata is best known for assaulting Prime Minister John Key with his brother outside a Northland marae in 2009.

Mana Party leader Hone Harawira defended the actions of the Popata brothers four years ago but has condemned the behaviour of the four men involved in the two most recent offences. ‘‘I don’t condone that, regardless of how close those people might be to me,’’ he said. ‘‘It is just plain thuggery.’’

Popata was remanded on bail until sentencing in September, while Taito and Harawira were initially remanded in custody. However, Harawira’s lawyer, Isaac Koya, argued his client was studying for a BA at Unitec and starting a job next week, and Judge Graham Hubble agreed to bail him too.