One is set to defend a charge of murder at trial, and the other three, including Rangitoheriri, admitted other charges.<\/p>\n
Rangitoheriri appeared in the High Court at Rotorua for sentencing yesterday before Justice Graham Lang. <\/p>\n
Justice Lang said the offending started after Rangitoheriri advertised a cellphone for sale on social media.<\/p>\n
A buyer sent Rangitoheriri a bank account screenshot to confirm payment then collected the cellphone.<\/p>\n
After Rangitoheriri discovered no money had been deposited into her account, she contacted the buyer and retrieved the phone via \u201ca third party\u201d.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou were not satisfied with this outcome,\u201d Justice Lang said.<\/p>\n
On the night of August 19, she messaged someone she believed was involved in \u201cfraudulently\u201d obtaining the phone.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou told this person, \u2019They\u2019d better be at that house on Trigg, otherwise the whole place will be left [in] ashes\u2019.\u201d<\/p>\n
The next day, Rangitoheriri, allegedly with three others, went to a Trigg Ave address.<\/p>\n
Rangitoheriri spoke to a woman who claimed to have \u201clittle knowledge\u201d about the phone matter. <\/p>\n
\u201cYou said you wanted to fight her son in retribution for his conduct.\u201d<\/p>\n
The group left the address and returned about 30 minutes later, when Ehau was outside.<\/p>\n
A violent altercation ensued, and Ehau eventually died from stab injuries.<\/p>\n
Defendant lost mother, brother at young age <\/p>\n
At sentencing, Crown prosecutor Anna McConachy said Rangitoheriri was the \u201cinstigator\u201d of violence in this case.<\/p>\n
Despite the phone being returned, she and others returned to the address \u201carmed with weapons\u201d.<\/p>\n
The use of weapons and \u201cvigilante actions\u201d were cited as aggravating factors to the offending.<\/p>\n
Hinerau Rameka, Rangitoheriri\u2019s lawyer, said she acknowledged the \u201ctragic loss of life\u201d.<\/p>\n
Rameka said the mitigating factors included Rangitoheriri losing her mother in \u201ctragic circumstances\u201d at age 7, and a \u201chighly public process\u201d when her half-brother died when she was age 9.<\/p>\n
She said Rangitoheriri would have been subjected to factors \u201cwell known with gangs\u201d through her father.<\/p>\n
\u201cParticularly relevant in this case is the vigilante action … retaliation is something common within gangs and it\u2019s seen as a sign of weakness if that\u2019s not followed through.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u2018No option\u2019 other than jail<\/p>\n
Justice Lang said Rangitoheriri\u2019s offending had several aggravating features, including it being \u201cplainly premeditated\u201d.<\/p>\n
She was \u201cclearly an instigator\u201d and displayed \u201cvigilante-type action\u201d.<\/p>\n
Justice Lang adopted a starting point of two years and six months\u2019 imprisonment.<\/p>\n
He granted her a 20% discount for her guilty pleas and a 10% discount for her youth.<\/p>\n
He said that while the offending was \u201cpremeditated and serious\u201d, it also showed the hallmarks of \u201cpoor judgment and lack of foresight as to likely consequences which young persons are well known\u201d.<\/p>\n
Justice Lang said Rangitoheriri\u2019s Section 27 cultural report echoed issues identified in the pre-sentence report.<\/p>\n
She was \u201cexposed to gang connections at an early stage\u201d, had an \u201cunsettled upbringing\u201d when her family frequently changed addresses, and her mother and brother died when she was young.<\/p>\n
Justice Lang said he had \u201cno doubt\u201d the issues she faced in her early years had a \u201cdirective causative link\u201d to how she responded to the attempt of being defrauded of her phone.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou no doubt view violence as being the appropriate means by which to deal with those who create problems for you.\u201d<\/p>\n
He applied a 10% discount to reflect the cultural report.<\/p>\n
The discounts reduced her sentence to 18 months\u2019 imprisonment, which meant he could impose a home detention sentence.<\/p>\n
He said imprisonment would be \u201cmore likely to cement you into an anti-social lifestyle\u201d.<\/p>\n
Additionally, at age 19, she still had prospects for rehabilitation \u2026 \u201ceven though these do not currently appear to be strong\u201d.<\/p>\n
He said a home detention sentence would lend itself \u201cmost positively to your rehabilitation and reintegration into the community\u201d.<\/p>\n
However, he had \u201cno option\u201d but to impose a prison sentence. He would have imposed a home detention sentence had a suitable address been available.<\/p>\n
He granted her leave to apply to have the sentence converted to home detention should an appropriate address become available. <\/p>\n