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Summarised by Centrist
Two Mongrel Mob gang members, Ruaumoko Taiapa and Raniera John Daniels-Rongonui, have been sentenced to nine years and nine months in prison for the violent rape of a 14-year-old girl in a Hamilton motel.
While the Crown recommended a 10 to 11-year starting point, and despite a 15-year start point determined by Judge Thomas Ingram in the Hamilton District Court on Tuesday, the rapists still received steep discounts to their sentences.
The court heard details of the October 2022 assault at Ashwood Manor motel, where the heavily tattooed Taiapa, 36, and Daniels-Rongonui, 26, subjected the teen to a two-hour ordeal.
The attack began when the pair, strangers to the victim, entered her room, smoked methamphetamine, and threatened violence.
Daniels-Rongonui warned he would “stab [her] in the face” if she refused drugs, while Taiapa later returned, forcing her to smoke cannabis before raping her.
Despite her pleas and revelation she was a virgin, Taiapa degraded her verbally and continued the assault.
Daniels-Rongonui followed hours later, raping her again.
Despite the horrific nature of their crimes, Judge Ingram slashed their sentences by 35%, handing them a 15% discount for pleading guilty—so the victim wouldn’t have to testify—and another 20% for their “backgrounds” and drug addiction.
He condemned their “callous” actions, adding, “It involved two men of your age and size and there’s a Mongrel Mob connection and you were obviously flaunting your Mongrel Mob association.”
