While there may have been benefits for a former gang insider to turn against his comrades and give evidence in a High Court trial, there were some powerful 'disbenefits” as well, a jury has been advised.

Justice Melanie Harland has urged the seven men and five women on a jury in Hamilton to consider all aspects of why a secret Crown witness chose to speak out, as they come to grips with three months worth of evidence and about 90 charges against nine men.

The nine are senior members and affiliates of the Mongols, who are standing trial on a raft of drugs and weapons charges.

Justice Harland began her summing up of the case on Monday morning. Like the trial itself, which began in mid-August, that process is a lengthy one.

There are more than 2000 pages of evidence – the typed-up accounts of each of the witnesses – contained in six folders for each juror to consider.

'It's very easy when you have such a volume of paper to become overwhelmed by it,” the judge said.

Central to the Crown case was evidence given by the gang insider, who was directly involved the alleged transportation of drugs and guns around the country, and who has been granted permanent name suppression.

A major task for the jury in coming to their verdicts was to determine whether that man was a credible and reliable witness, the judge said.

The defence case had made much of the witness's motives – including immunity from prosecution, and consideration in bail and sentencing decisions – as well as seizing on a number of inconsistencies in his account to the jury.

However, as well as the incentives for the witness, the jurors should also consider the 'disbenefit”, the judge said.

'He considers his family's life and his life in danger as a result [of turning against the gang].”

An arsenal of Molotov cocktails were found during the culmination of the police operation to uncover evidence of the Mongols' misdeeds. These inflammatory concoctions were found in the home of a man who ended up giving evidence against the gang for the Crown.

Following a covert surveillance operation, police arrested the entire senior hierarchy of the gang in June 2020.

The witness was among those who was arrested that day, and he was charged with possession of weapons including an AR15 and AK47 guns, homemade Molotov cocktails and a homemade bomb.

At first, the witness refused to co-operate with the police. However, not long after his arrest he had spoken to his partner at the Tauranga Police station, and she had told him that a group of Mongols – led by vice president Hone Ronaki – on bikes had attempted to run her off the road, while their children and his mother were in the car.

This had changed his approach and, as the judge noted in her summing up, the next day he had asked to speak to a detective investigating the case.

Eventually, the witness was granted immunity from further prosecution in the case by the Solicitor General – however this did not remove the charges that were against him at the time.

He pleaded guilty and, in February 2021 he was sentenced to seven months of home detention.

During their cross-examination and their subsequent closing arguments, some lawyers acting in defence of the nine accused had described this sentence as a 'sweet deal”. But this was not necessarily the case, the judge said.

The judge who had sentenced the man had taken a start point of four years in jail. His guilty pleas had resulted in the deduction of 25 per cent – or one year of that time.

The contents of a cultural report and 'co-operation with the police” had resulted in another 25 per cent off.

There had been an additional deduction for 'additional remorse”, and a further six months in recognition of his time spent on electronically-monitored bail and in custody.

This resulted in 14 months in jail, which the sentencing judge had converted to seven months of home detention.

Among those on trial is the Mongols's national president Jim Thacker, sergeant-at-arms Leon 'Wolf” Huritu; Jason '666” Ross; Kelly 'Rhino” Petrowski; Hone 'One-er” Ronaki; Matthew Ramsden; Kane Ronaki; Te Reneti Tarau; and another man who has interim name suppression.

-Mike Mather/Stuff.