Several witnesses gave evidence that they saw three men involved in beating another man on Woodland Ave, Motueka in October 2018. Hoani Toko Rangi Karetai, 29, was charged with injuring with intent to cause grevious bodily harm and two counts of common assault for his part in the incident and pleaded guilty to the charges. He was sentenced to three years prison in September 2019. The third man had not been identified.
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The jury retired to consider their verdicts on the fourth day of the trial in the Nelson District Court. (File photo) All four were involved in the Black Power gang and had spent time together in Nelson on the day of the alleged assault, visiting various locations and drinking bourbon before returning to Motueka.
Lawyer Tim Spear submitted that Wakelin should come up for sentence if called upon, as both the harm done to the victims and the chances of Wakelin acting in the same way again were “minimal”. Spear said because of the difficulties of Wakelin faced as a result of a historical head injury, there was no point in imposing supervision or a punitive sentence. Wakelin also personally apologised to Judge Tony Zohrab for his behaviour at his previous court appearance in October, where he interrupted the judge several times. Judge Zohrab said he had limited sentencing options, given Wakelin s personal circumstances.