When John-Boy Rakete was jailed in 2016, a Dunedin judge told him he had to do something to break the cycle of violence and imprisonment.<\/p>\n
Ten years on, nothing has changed.<\/p>\n
A petrol-station-forecourt attack in 2019 led to the death of Rakete\u2019s victim and he told the Parole Board the following year that the incident had been a \u201cwake-up call\u201d for him.<\/p>\n
But since then, he committed two further brutal attacks, including, most recently, the sustained and unprovoked attack on a group of students in 2024.<\/p>\n
Rakete, 32, was yesterday jailed for three years 11 months for his part in the pack attack in North Dunedin described a judge as “sickening”.<\/p>\n
Despite the catalogue of serious violence and the trail of victims, after some consideration, the Crown did not pursue a sentence of preventive detention (an indefinite jail term).<\/p>\n
A witness to one of Rakete\u2019s aggressive outbursts, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said it was a \u201cdisappointing and concerning\u201d decision.<\/p>\n
The man described the Mongrel Mob member as \u201ca lethal weapon . . . like a character from a fighting video game\u201d.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was unbelievable to see in the real world, let alone in Otago,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
While the man believed Rakete should remain behind bars to protect the community and the reputation of the region as a safe place to live, he had some sympathy for his circumstances.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt seems he\u2019s a product and creature of his environment who probably didn\u2019t stand a chance growing up in a gang family, looking to impress the wrong part of society,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n
LIFE OF CRIME
Apr 2016: Rakete punches a bouncer, breaking his jaw, for not letting him into a bar<\/p>\n
Apr 2016 (days later): During a party at his home, he removes his shirt, arms himself with a knfie and threatens people on the street<\/p>\n
May 2016: Punches, kicks an associate and steals his tobacco. Jailed for 22 months for the three incidents<\/p>\n
Jul 2018: Rakete punches Nigel Landreth at a South Dunedin petrol station. He then pours an energy drink over the victim as he lies on the forecourt convulsing. Mr Landreth dies 14 months later. Jailed for 26 months<\/p>\n
Nov 2020: While on prison release conditions, the defendant removes his tracking bracelet to attend a \u201cgang event\u201d. Imprisoned for another three months<\/p>\n
Dec 2021: Rakete steals a taxi, comes across a couple attending a nearby party, removes his shirt to reveal a gang tattoo on his back. After yelling about the Covid-19 vaccine and shouting gang slogans, he punches a man, sending him face first onto the concrete. Sentenced to 20 months\u2019 prison<\/p>\n
Mar 2024: Leads gang members in a pack attack on a group of students. Jailed for nearly four years<\/p>\n
Oct 2026: Rakete will see the Parole Board\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"When John-Boy Rakete was jailed in 2016, a Dunedin judge told him he had to do something to…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":407953,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[42,43,40,38,41,39],"class_list":["post-407952","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-headlines","tag-headlines","tag-news","tag-top-news","tag-top-stories","tag-topnews","tag-topstories"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/407952","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=407952"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/407952\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/407953"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=407952"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=407952"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=407952"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}