INVERCARGILL - TAKE BACK YOUR TOWN

We took to cooking and stuff over the weekend so left the heady debates on the middle east to Lambcut who likes writing and talking about it - a lot.

However, we have been musing over a story that we saw in the Southland Times late last week about self styled gang leader Shaun Te Kahu writing a letter to property developer and entrepreneur Louis Crimp about their gang headquarters which was torched.

Crimp owned it and in a curious oversight didn't realise that there had been no mortgage payments on the property for a decade.

He took back the property but in less that 48 hours it was burnt to the ground.

Te Kahu - who is not Ngai Tahu's finest son, shows some literacy skills but little else.

The letter is a mixture of whinging about the sentimental attachment he and his brother Chaz had to the place, and not so veiled threats about rebuilding the gang presence back in Invercargill.

Te Kahu's letter in full

Koe Louis,

Shaun Te Kahu here. I writing to you concerning what I just witnessed on TV. I'm in total disbelief. Shocked and totally gutted. As well as my brother. We are original founders of mongrel mob Invercargill.

That place held sentimental value to us. I wasn't aware of that mortgage loan back from 89. When I become president I honestly wasn't aware of that bill. Otherwise, I would've paid it. To find out 20 years later was a slap in the face. I received your correspondence like December just gone.

I couldn't do much from my cell. I was told you approached others down there. I honestly believe you weren't talking to the backbone at all. I'm the backbone. Me and my brother. I was in Springhill Prison when I got your notice.

So I wasn't in a position to do anything positive. I'm back in Chch now. I'm due to come back Invercargill ways anytime next year. I'm a local from Invercargill just like everyone else in the town. I've made the wrong choices, no ones perfect. I won't deny the mob are a bunch of thugs. I accept we've mucked it all up. But I am prepared to make a change for the better of us and the community. We have given back to the community as well. My contribution was AK47s and shotguns and other weapons. That was something no other gang has done ever in Invercargill. Just politics in the gang scene got in the way. The town has been quiet since I've been in jail. I'm in a better frame of mind now. What I like to know is where do we go from here? I got the impression you and the city council was trying to crush the mob by taking way my headquarters. The bill was unrealistic aye. Why would the mob pay you that amount of money when the mob could go and buy another house and rebuild right in the town. We chose Severn cause it was the right location for us. And there's another headquarters in Mataura.

I'm prepared to make amends to you when I get out. I'll compensate you on the condition you give what's left back 2 us which is nothing now. But ashes. Otherwise you give me no choice but to rebuild in town.

Til I hear from you.

Yours sincerely SHAUN TE KAHU

Paparua Prison

It is astounding that he admits to introducing AK47's to the town and to fuelling the gang warfare that has dogged the southern town for years.

Invercargill doesnt need arsewipes like the Te Kahus . They are wreckers and haters and just stupid enough to be dangerous to innocent people.

Even the Mongrel Mob never held these guys in high regard until they managed to torch the historic headquarters of the Road Knights which had been a symbol of the pasty white racist underbelly of Invercargill.

Sadly this gross play in the gang sandpit gained them some misplaced creds.

When Te Kahu does get out of prison there is no way he should be allowed back inside the town boundary.

What we would like to see on the big sign that welcomes people to Invercargill is - Proud to be Gang Free.

INVERCARGILL SLOWLY SHEDDING GANGS

In the 70's 80's and 90's gang activity in Invercargill was high. There were the Road Knights, the Damned, Mongrel Mob and Black Power all taking positions of dominance at some time. Now its down to 1. The Road Knights - although they are just a shadow of their former strength. In fact you could liken them now to balanced challenged kids trotting on donkeys - instead of murderous thugs riding around on Harleys.

This particular branch of the Mob were never held in very high regard by the mob further north. They were considered by the old guard as particularly stupid try hards.

However they gained some creedence when they managed to burn down the Road Knights headquarters .

So today we see that the Mob has moved out of Invercargill - almost. They have been squatting because the city's eccentric property developer Lou Crimp finally worked out that the buggers hadn't been paying any rent. So he put the hard word on them.

We have had very close associations with Lou in the past. He owned whole streets of houses he bought from Housing Corp that the Black Power once lay siege to. So he knows a thing or too about gangs and he hates them.

So it is pleasing to see that Invercargill is cleaning out their rats nests.

LIKE DEFROCKING A PRIEST

Well here is an excellent first. The sort of police action that sets the benchmark. A mongrel mob member has had his patch destroyed by the police.

It is akin to defrocking a priest. It strikes at the heart of all they believe in - all they believe they are.

This should happen everytime a gang member breaks the law. And they should be forced to watch it being destroyed. Gangs breed hate and the patch is nothing but a symbol of that hatred.

It will have the same effect as the gang patch ban of Wanganui. It will serve as a reminder that gangs are not normal and that their criminalty that manfests itself in i community intimidation and fear is not going to be accepted.

Police Minister Judith Collins must be delighted and proud of the Hawkes Bay constabulary.

Waikato Hospital has also banned gang patches.

Its that sort of thinking and hardline policing that will erode gang legitimacy everywhere.

Its also time for every Marae in the country to ban gang patches as well.

Gang tikanga is not Maori tikanga.

WAIROA - A TOWN OF THE WALKING DEAD

Sometimes we need to be very brave in life and face the reality of our situation and make some hard calls. Wairoa is a tough town. Its almost 50% Maori.

The council decided to face up to the ugly reality that the towns gang culture was killing their kids.

They were going to ban patches after seeing the impact that a gang patch ban had in Wanganui.

But did they hang tough? No. It seems that the council got railroaded by the "good folk" of the town.

Leave the gangs alone they said. Mayor Les Probert says that the problem was that most of the towns large Maori population had gang connections so they did not want a ban on gang patches.

So the Maori leaders of Wairoa are saying that they support the gangs. That gangs are okay. that gangs rule.

And as Wairoa knows - when gangs rule - they kill.

Lets get this right folks. Maori have no business protecting gangs - gangs tikanga (lore or way of doing things) is not Maori tikanga. Its Gang culture. Not Maori culture. Stealing killing, selling drugs are not traditional Maori practices.

Banning the patches sends one single powerful message. Gangs are not normal.

But instead Wairoa has bent over and handed the gangs the vaseline.

The simple truth is that Wairoa as a town needed to make the hard call. Face up to the reality and say no more to the gangs. Maori leaders needed to stand up and say that their tikanga is more important that that of the gangs.

Instead they are now collectively culpable for the next youth death in the town.

CUSTOMLINE FORD STILL STEALING CARS

About 18months ago a boiled head called "Customline Ford" stole our car.

We got it back ourselves, after some serious police inaction, , from the Mobsters in Farmers Crescent in Lower Hutt.

And Cactus ( does the prickly bitch miss anything?) spied this yarn in the Herald. Its the same slippery little shitbag.

However we have it on the best authority that Customline ( who apparently only stands knee high to a mudguard) is NOT a mobster. He maybe a wanna be but he is no longer a Mobster just a dork.

update:

Yes he apparently will steal anything but a holden.

BLACK DAY FOR BLACK POWER.

As our nation reels from the news that a little four year old boy  was attacked in Whakatane  for wearing a red tee shirt by a Black Power wannabe ( read prospect), we  are more incensed by the response from Black Power.

The abuse of the four-year-old, as his father's back was turned, is the latest of several violent gang "colours" incidents. It has sparked outrage within gang circles and from the police minister.
The little boy was screamed at, prodded, then had his shirt ripped off him as he played in Whakatane's Cutler Crescent reserve about 3.30pm last Thursday.
The street is home to many blue colour-coded Black Power members. The rival Mongrel Mob's colours are red.

Firstly one of the local leaders ( read bully and thug) says they are keeping a look out for the perpetrator and they will deal to him.

"We are not happy with this. We are keeping a watch out for the guy. If he is found we will give him a good clouting." 

Wrong , wrong , wrong.

It is not up to the gang to be police. It is not up to them to perpetuate the cycle of violence. It is not for them exercise any form of jungle justice.

It is for them to find the cowardly  thug who beats a four year old up for wearing a red shirt and turn him over to the authorities so that those who have the responsibility for law and order can administer it. This thug should be treated as any other young thug. That its not okay.

If he receives a " clouting " from Black Power then all that does is cement  Black Power's authority and diminishes the authority of the police and court system.

Black Power leaders say they are trying to change the gang culture from within but their response to this incident puts pay to that lie.

We are also extremely saddened by the response of   acknowledged gang advocate  Denis O'Reilly  as well. While admitting that this heinous act is beyond the pale for even hardened gangsters  he is still worried about the " shame "  that it will bring to the gang.

The only shame that Black Power should feel is that none of them have the balls to turn this violent bully over to the authorities for him to face the full   force of the law. By doing that the gang would show their followers that they do have some respect for the judiciary and that they acknowledge that it is not their place to play vigilantes.

It is up to people like Denis to say that the gang will bring the coward to the police. That what he has done is not acceptable. That they have respect for our law and order system that the rest of us abide by. 

Simply put - their response shows Black Power still  think like criminals and act like criminals. 

Until then they only deserve contempt from the rest of us. 

JUSTICE

Remember this story about our car being stolen and the subsequent police ineptitude that meant that it was left to us to access the gangs, via our old connections, to track down the car and get it back.

We have just heard on the kumara vine that the fella from the Wairarapa who stole it has been in a bit of bother.

These days he no longer wears a patch. Apparently he was sporting a few bruises a while back as well. We didn't ask for that to happen nor do we condone it. It is probably less related to the theft of our car and more related to the subsequent events.

But neither will we lose any sleep over the fact that he no longer can call himself a member of a gang. So in the end - the one thing that he values more than anything else has been taken from him.

That is a good thing.

NO MOURNING MOSSIE

We have known many gang members like Mossie Hines , from across the spectrum - White Power, Nomads, Black Power , Mongrel Mob, Road Knights, Devils Henchmen and many others who have since disbanded.

We do not mourn the passing of Hines. He died in jail where he spent most of his sorry arsed life. He was brutal and unforgiving and arguably, if he didn't order the killing of Dr Howard Tippet and his sister, then he shaped the minds of those who did.
He was the face of evil. The same sort of evil we are seeing on TV1 on the Gangland series of Australia's underbelly. David Fisher has done a considered piece on a man who was less than the legend.

And of course our recent brush with gangs is now documented.



There are no places for these people in our society. We will undoubtedly see a rise of gang activity as the growing fog of the recession swirls about us. It will take a good and firm government to ensure that we do not see the rise of any more Mossie Hines.

WOULD BANNING GANG PATCHES HAVE GOT OUR CAR BACK?

NAH but we are delighted with any legislation that cracks down on gangs. Marginalise them, give them no room to move and the police should be in their faces 24/7. Zero tolerance. Get them on the small stuff - it will stop the big stuff. And maybe then the police might have got our carback.

A VERY GOOD FRIDAY

Today we took the Famous Falcon out for a spin. It's a cool old car. We are very pleased to have it back. We aren't car people, the two we have aren't worth as much as the John Deere Ride on lawnmower. I told Mum that today and she laughed - she reckons their 15 year old Toyota Camry isn't worth as much as their golf cart either. Just goes to show how we prioritise the things in our lives.
We ended up at the Mt Holdsworth camping ground. There were hundreds of people heading up the tracks to go camping for the weekend. We passed two young fellas pitching a couple of tents as their girls sat in the long grass the autumn sun burnishing their long brunette locks. Lucky girls, I thought, then they stood up and I realised that the girls were about 5 a piece. Dads and daughters camping by the river. Nice.

Anyway we wandered down the track aways and spied what our family has always referred to as Treetop Tegels. It was a fat woodpigeon. Very nice. There was snow on the Rimutakas and Tararuas. There is a nip in the air and the countryside is all gold yellow and plum.

New Zealand at its colourful best.

CRIME AND COMPASSION

Today we got our car back. The story started on the 25^th of February when our car was allegedly stolen by a man with Mongrel mob connections called Customline Ford, from the Masterton Railway Station. He is the son of one of Wairarapa’s own, Little Man Ford. The name is not their original name. It was changed by deed poll to reflect the family’s love of Ford cars. Little Man is dead.

We had been leaving the car at the station from Monday to Friday, as we thought that a 18 year old faded green Ford Station wagon might not have had much attraction to any would be car thief. When we discovered the car was stolen we asked for some assistance from the train drivers. They were very helpful. They gave us the number of the local police and the number of the person in Wellington who administered the security cameras.

We rang the police , gave them all the details and they said they would post out an event number. They said that they could not email the event number that it could only be posted.

We dealt with Constable A. In the meantime the Aussie Rock, (my partner) got hold of the security guy and the next day we got our first break. The security footage clearly showed the thief. However he said he could not release it until he was asked to by the police. We rang the police back and told them that the security footage. Constable A said she would sort it out and get the footage. A week went by and we heard nothing . We rang again. We were told Constable A was not there and were put on to Constable B she picked up the file and then a couple of days later informed us they recognised the thief. She alledged his name was Customline and they were looking for him. He was very well known to them.

Anyway a couple of days later we got a notice from Land Transport that the car had changed ownership. The Rock checked with LTNZ and discovered that the car had indeed been reregistered a day after it was stolen. They would not tell us who it was, unless we went into the office and again said that they would release that information to the police. We rang the police and told them of the new development and they rang back to say that the car had been reregistered to someone at a Lower Hutt address who was also well known to them. They then informed us that the file was on its way to Lower Hutt - it took a couple of days to be transferred to the Lower Hutt CIB.

We were informed that the police were already keeping an eye on the property as it was in the Farmers Cres area, which was a MOB enclave and some of the residents had been issued with eviction notices from the Housing corporation. We were told that once they spotted the car they would have to get some reinforcements to take the car back because it was not something that one of two police could do on their own considering the tensions around the evictions.

Another week passed. We called into the Masterton Police Station and talked to Constable B where she reiterated that as yet they had not sighted the car. I asked her how likely it was that we would sse the car again. She did not rate our chances highly , explaining that normally when cars like ours were stolen they ended up in a Chop Shop within a few days or they were moved around all round the country. I suggested that I knew someone with strong Mob connections and that I was sure he could track the car down. She said that could be worth considering.

That night The Rock arrived home with two things - the name of the person the car was registered to – Barry Kahui and a newspaper story about Kahui who was on home invasion charges. And was appearing Thursday 2^nd April.

I rang my mate. Within hours he had talked to Barry who reckoned that the car had been sold to him as a repo and he had spent $1300 on it. He wanted some compensation for the money he had spent on the Mag wheels and a few other things. We resisted.

Our friend genuinely believed that this guy had been told some bullshit by the Customline. It was akin to your cousin ripping you off.

Anyway he gave the cellphone number of Barry and we texted him.

Then over the next two days there was an extraordinary dialogue as we came to an agreement about the car. As soon as he realised that the car was hot and we could prove it was hot and the police knew, Barry wanted shot of it. He had bought it to transport his 6 kids. He had put Mag wheels on it. And put speakers in it.

I was ready to call it quits. Years of dealing with gang members means that I know how difficult and dangerous it can be getting to a point of resolution. However the Rock is a stubborn bugger and wanted to follow through – so he talked to Barry direct. Soon they came to an understanding. The car was in a car park in Farmers crescent with the wheels off. We could pick it up. But the deal was that once we put wheels back on it could be driven away.

So yesterday the Rock and a mate went to Farmers crescent. The car was now missing a new battery. they went and got new rims and tyres and put them on, only to find the fuel line had been cut. So it was towed to a garage and its being repaired. Now while they spent an hour getting the car sorted , the Rock got to know the Mob, who were in full regalia. Some came up and yarned. They wanted to know what he owned. They were trying to work out why he wanted his old banger back. It was simple, the car has family history and has been around for a long time. He was pretty annoyed that the deal that the car be in drivable condition, was not kept. But Barry had put the car in the car park on the Wednesday night so who knows who stole the battery.

The Rock says he saw a mother and a father who cared for there children , who looked after them with affection and concern as they played on the asphalt. While I reminded him that all he saw was a snapshot – he said he knew that, but he also knew good parenting when he saw it. He talked to some Mobsters who were bemused that this quiet man would go to such lengths to get an old car with no wheels back.He quietly informed them that he had come to get the car because it was his.

A copper arrived minutes after the Rock had towed the car away. They rang me to say that Barry had told them we had collected the car. Her sounded surprised that we had repossessed it.He informed me they were there to get it back.

Bit late I said, not without a trace of sarcasm.

I also asked the copper, if it was true, as Barry had said, that the police had seen him drive the car during the past three weeks and had done nothing , the copper said to his knowledge that was not the case.

So whats the upshot?

Well, Customline is likely to be in for a bit of grief. The Lower Hutt Mob made it very clear that they felt they had been ripped off.

The police while helpful at all times have very crap processes. If someone deals with a file it seems no-one else knows what the details are.

And someone needs to do something about the interface between the police and LTNZ. We do feel let down by the police process but not by the police.

Anyway we will be requesting the entire file from the police to see what decisions were made and when. We aren’t out to get any individuals because they have treated us with respect the whole way through.

But we are following through because, you see, this didn’t pass the granny test. That’s the test you apply that means if you were a granny what would happen. If it was a granny instead of the Aussie Rock, she would have never seen her car again. And the mongrel mob would have learned that crime does pay and has no consequences.

And that does not do our society any favours.

So what happens now? Well we have the car back and its going to a new home and in a cul de sac in Lower Hutt, life goes on.