By 3 News online staff
The so-called Urewera Four have had their appeals against convictions and sentences dismissed by the Court of Appeal.
Prominent Tuhoe activist Tame Iti, Te Rangikaiwhiria Kemara, Urs Signer and Emily Bailey were all found guilty by a High Court jury in Auckland on firearms charges over what prosecutors alleged were military-style camps in 2006 and 2007. The four took their case to the court arguing their trial wasn’t fair and their sentences weren’t appropriate.
They said, among other things, the camps were a Wananga for learning about bushcraft, or were for security industry training.
Their plea was turned down by Justices Mark O’Regan, Terrance Arnold and Ellen France today, saying the trial was fair and the sentences were adequate.
“We consider it was open to the Judge to reach the factual findings he did,” their report says.
“Indeed, there is force in the Crown submission that in giving credit for the appellants’ altruistic motivation, the approach taken was generous.”
Iti and Kemara were both handed jail sentences of two-and-a-half years, while Signer and Bailey were given nine months' home detention.
Iti's lawyer, Russell Fairbrother, said at the appeal hearing in August that the Auckland jury should have been instructed by the trial judge about the different lifestyle in Ruatoki, where seeing someone with a firearm in the street wasn't seen as alarming.
Signer's lawyer Christopher Stevenson said the crown had shifted its allegations from originally claiming they intended to commit serious violent offences to one saying it was a "plan B" if peaceful Tuhoe Treaty of Waitangi negotiations failed.
3 News