Four New Plymouth Black Power members have been found guilty for their parts in the violent death of a man who only worked for a member of rival gang the Mongrel Mob.
Peri Niwa, 31, was stabbed to death at the back of a New Plymouth house in 2008 while fleeing from armed Black Power members who had turned up at a party.
During the trial it emerged how the gang jealously defended its turf. Mr Niwa was not a gang member, but worked for a team of scaffolders run by an out-of-town Mongrel Mob member.
The High Court jury in New Plymouth last night found Matiu Pahau, 22, guilty of Mr Niwa's murder, the Taranaki Daily News reported.
Mahana Edmonds, 39, Rangi Rick Brown, 40, and Adrian Tony Fenton, 27, were found guilty of manslaughter.
All four were found guilty of the commission of a crime with a firearm and have been remanded for sentence on August 16.
NZPA