{"id":102639,"date":"2025-10-26T23:59:07","date_gmt":"2025-10-26T23:59:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/102639\/"},"modified":"2025-10-26T23:59:07","modified_gmt":"2025-10-26T23:59:07","slug":"bay-of-plenty-mongrel-mob-killer-gets-new-sentence-for-auckland-prison-stabbing","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/102639\/","title":{"rendered":"Bay of Plenty Mongrel Mob killer gets new sentence for Auckland prison stabbing"},"content":{"rendered":"

It will have long since finished by the time his 10-year minimum term of imprisonment for the murder conviction<\/a> has expired, allowing him to start applying for parole. <\/p>\n

\"OneOne month before turning 15, Kayleb Renata was praised by youth outreach group New Zealand Blue Light for his attitude, teamwork and self-discipline. A year later, he was arrested for murder. Photo \/ Supplied<\/p>\n

\u201cI take into account something terrible \u2013 or lots of terrible things \u2013 happened to you for you to be sentenced for murder at the age of 17,\u201d the judge said. <\/p>\n

She described a report into his background, prepared for his previous sentencing but repurposed for the current case, as \u201cvery sad reading\u201d. <\/p>\n

\u201cIt seems to me like you never really had a chance, given your background.\u201d<\/p>\n

Stab frenzy, collapsed lung<\/p>\n

Renata\u2019s latest case involved an incident on a Sunday afternoon last November that occurred while serving his sentence at South Auckland Corrections Facility in Wiri. <\/p>\n

He didn\u2019t start the fight but kept stabbing even as prison officers tried to intervene. The victim was hospitalised with a collapsed lung. <\/p>\n

Court documents state Renata and two co-defendants were in the same day room when the victim approached and punched an elderly inmate who was sitting on a table. <\/p>\n

The initial aggressor soon became the attacked as others in the room surrounded him and started throwing punches and kicks. At least two others stabbed the victim repeatedly in the back. <\/p>\n

\"TheThe attack took place in a day room at South Auckland Corrections Facility in Wiri. Photo \/ Dean Purcell<\/p>\n

Corrections officers tried to drag the victim to a safe room, during which the inmate narrowly missed getting stabbed in the face by another attacker, according to the summary of facts Renata agreed to. <\/p>\n

\u201cTwo other prisoners took hold of the victim\u2019s left arm, preventing corrections officers from pulling the victim to safety,\u201d court documents state. <\/p>\n

\u201cAs the other prisoners held the victim\u2019s arm, the defendant Renata picked up a crate and struck the victim\u2019s arm three times before stabbing him a further five times in the arm.\u201d<\/p>\n

The violent incident lasted almost three and a half minutes before officers were able to pull the victim to safety and get him to a hospital. <\/p>\n

\u2018Love being mischief\u2019<\/p>\n

This week\u2019s sentencing came days after the Supreme Court declined to re-evaluate<\/a> Renata\u2019s murder sentence. <\/p>\n

His lawyers had argued unsuccessfully to the Court of Appeal that a life sentence should not have been imposed because of his young age at the time of the killing. <\/p>\n

Renata and older co-defendant Roger Tutakangahau attacked fellow partygoer Jamaine\u200b Wharton at the Waiohau Rugby Club, 40km south of Whakat\u0101ne, in February 2021.<\/p>\n

\"RogerRoger Tutakangahua (left), then 25, Billie-Dean Raina, 20, and Kayleb Renata, whose image was blurred because of suppression orders at the time, appeared in court accused of the 2021 murder of Jamaine Wharton. Photo \/ Andrew Warner<\/p>\n

Tutakangahau, who was found guilty of manslaughter and sentenced to five-and-a-half years\u2019 imprisonment, had started the attack mistakenly thinking the victim was affiliated with Black Power. <\/p>\n

Wharton declined to fight, then tried to run away after Tutakangahau, Renata and others began throwing punches anyway. The group followed, barking before knocking him to the ground, kicking and stomping on him. <\/p>\n

\u201cGet him!\u201d Tutakangahau yelled to Renata when Wharton tried to escape again. <\/p>\n

Renata complied. He stabbed the victim three times after catching up to him. <\/p>\n

At his sentencing at the High Court at Rotorua in October 2022, Justice Paul Davison agreed with lawyers on both sides that life imprisonment would not be manifestly unjust despite Renata\u2019s age. <\/p>\n

\u201cSimply put, your offending involved a senseless and savage beating of an innocent man who had done nothing whatsoever to provoke you, who posed no threat whatsoever to you, and who was outnumbered by you and your associates three to one,\u201d the judge said, noting the victim was \u201cutterly defenceless on the ground\u201d when Renata\u2019s final stab wound was inflicted. <\/p>\n

Reports prepared for the court before the murder sentencing suggested Renata had little remorse. <\/p>\n

\u201cI love the life I live,\u201d he was reported to have said, adding later he would rather rob people than work as a labourer for \u201cs*** money\u201d. <\/p>\n

\"Whakat\u0101neWhakat\u0101ne man Jamaine Wharton was stabbed to death by Kayleb Renata in 2021. Photo \/ Supplied<\/p>\n

\u201cLove being mischief, being bad,\u201d he said. \u201cI thrive off it.\u201d<\/p>\n

The High Court judge described him as \u201cwholly ill-equipped to deal with life as an adult outside of prison\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is clear that you will need a significant amount of rehabilitative effort and support before you will be able to safely reintegrate into the community without remaining a significant risk to the public,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n

Prison path started \u2018in womb\u2019<\/p>\n

For the most recent case, Renata faced an additional sentence of up to 14 years\u2019 imprisonment after pleading guilty to wounding with intent to cause grievous bodily harm. <\/p>\n

Crown prosecutor Keiana Arona and defence lawyer Caitlin Gentleman had little to debate over the sentence. Both agreed a seven-year starting point would be suitable, followed by a 25% reduction for his guilty plea and 10% for his youth and background. <\/p>\n

The judge interjected 10% seemed low before reiterating it was probably academic anyway. <\/p>\n

\u201cI know he is probably in a space where he doesn\u2019t care,\u201d the judge said. <\/p>\n

\u201cBut in so many ways, the place where he\u2019s ended up is not his fault.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"TheThe Auckland South Correction Facility in Wiri. Photo \/ Jason Oxenham<\/p>\n

The judge noted the defendant\u2019s mother was a methamphetamine addict who smoked cannabis and drank heavily while she was pregnant with him. He was raised instead by his father, who was affiliated with the Mongrel Mob, and was exposed to violence, drugs and gang life from an early age.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt looks like the gang, the Mongrel Mob, was your main support,\u201d the judge said. \u201cYou grew up around them.\u201d<\/p>\n

By age 14, Renata was also using methamphetamine and various other drugs. He dropped out of school early. <\/p>\n

The judge described Renata\u2019s description of the violence inside prison as something that is \u201cfrightening for the community to know\u201d. He claimed carrying a shank and strengthening his affiliation with the gang were necessary for protection. <\/p>\n

Judge Moala allowed a 20% discount for background, higher than both sides had sought, to \u201cacknowledge that you were on a path from a very young age \u2013 from the womb, probably\u201d. <\/p>\n

He won\u2019t be eligible to begin applying for parole until the early 2030s.<\/p>\n

Craig Kapitan<\/a> is an Auckland-based journalist covering courts and justice. He joined the Herald in 2021 and has reported on courts since 2002 in three newsrooms in the US and New Zealand.<\/p>\n

Sign up to The Daily H<\/a>, a free newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"It will have long since finished by the time his 10-year minimum term of imprisonment for the murder…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":102640,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[6127,60504,51,1561,2082,74907,6276,3958,14235,424,4281,4280,4275,74906,117,111,43,139,69,1118,19719,1523,1562,8442,205,5763,74908,15163,1335,1961,686,4741],"class_list":["post-102639","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-new-zealand","tag-already","tag-associate","tag-auckland","tag-bay","tag-for","tag-futility","tag-gets","tag-judge","tag-killer","tag-life","tag-mob","tag-mongrel","tag-murder","tag-mused","tag-new","tag-new-zealand","tag-news","tag-newzealand","tag-nz","tag-of","tag-ordered","tag-over","tag-plenty","tag-prison","tag-role","tag-sentence","tag-serving","tag-stabbing","tag-term","tag-this","tag-week","tag-young"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/102639","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=102639"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/102639\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/102640"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=102639"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=102639"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=102639"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}