A gang boss who describes himself as the “captain of New Plymouth” was so ticked off by an associate’s accusation he had stolen money that he led a group beating of the man so brutal he was left covered with bruises and bleeding from his ear. 

Anthony Joel Heke, who claims to be the president of the New Plymouth chapter of gang Uru Taha, and Tyson Hutchinson, a Black Power prospect, went with two others to the victim’s house for drinks on July 17 last year. 

A minor confrontation occurred between the victim and one of the visitors and as a result, the group left the address, New Plymouth District Court heard on Friday. 

But after they left, the victim discovered some money had been taken from his house, according to the Crown’s summary of facts. 

He sent a message to Heke asking if he had stolen his money and Heke, 26, said he was on his way to Whanganui and would speak to him when he returned. 

On July 20, the victim received a call from an associate who told him “the boys” were heading to his house. 

About five minutes later, Heke, Hutchinson and Shez Bristol, an Uru Taha associate, arrived. 

The victim was sitting on his couch when they entered his home and approached him. 

Heke who “felt slighted”, asked: “Are you going around saying I stole from you or something?” 

The victim apologised but Heke continued to berate him and said: “I’m the captain of NP [New Plymouth].” 

He began punching the victim in the head and was soon joined by Bristol. As the pair continued to strike the victim around the head and body, Hutchinson filmed the attack and encouraged the violence. 

Hutchinson, who was armed with either a knife or a pole, according to the summary, then joined in on the assault. 

They warned the victim not to try to fight back and continued to yell “Uru Taha” and “Black Power”. 

Uru Taha, or West Side, has had established roots in Taranaki for about two decades. 

After the beating, the trio left the victim’s house and took with them his television and PlayStation. 

The victim suffered a swollen black eye, cuts to his forehead, bruises to his body and a large haematoma to his ribs. 

Due to bleeding from one of his ears, he sought hospital treatment and underwent a CT scan but was discharged later that day. 

While Hutchinson and Bristol have already been sentenced to three years’ and four years’ imprisonment for their involvement, Heke appeared before Judge Gregory Hikaka on Friday. 

In court, Crown Pprosecutor Rebekah Hicklin submitted Heke instigated the violence and so he should have a higher starting point than his co-offenders, suggesting seven years’ imprisonment as the kickoff. 

“It was his beef and without him it wouldn’t have happened.” 

Hicklin said an uplift of 20 months should apply for possession of a sawn-off .308 rifle that was found at his house when police arrested him on July 27 last year. Meth pipes were also found and he was hiding cannabis in his underwear. 

She submitted a further uplift of at least eight months should be added due to Heke’s previous convictions and because he was on release conditions at the time of the offending not to enter Taranaki, not to associate with the co-offenders, not to possess illicit drugs and to comply with electronic-monitoring. 

“He was in breach of all of those conditions.” 

Defence lawyer Paul Keegan accepted the uplifts should apply but submitted the starting point for the attack should be the same as his co-offenders, which was six years’ imprisonment. 

He said it was “gang business” and they were all equally culpable. 

Judge Gregory Hikaka agreed with Keegan, stating the three were all jointly charged and, in his view, were all equally responsible. 

He took a starting point of six years’ imprisonment and added a year for the firearms offending and further time for Heke’s criminal history. 

When considering the discounts, the judge gave 20 per cent credit for guilty pleas and 10 per cent for Heke’s background issues. 

Referring to reports provided to the court, Judge Hikaka said he wasn’t convinced the “real” Heke was the “staunch, strong” person he presented. 

He said Heke had shown a “softness” when it came to his child and was ashamed of some of his behaviour. 

The judge implored him to follow through on his interest in going to rehab. 

On admitted charges of aggravated burglary and unlawful possession of a firearm, Heke was jailed for five years and three months. 

The judge also imposed an extended supervision order of five years and a firearms prohibition order. 

This story was originally published on the Herald, here