Offender DatabasesViolent and Sexual Offender Databases |
Victims MemorialA memorial to those murdered in NZ in the last twenty years
EDUCATE . ADVOCATE . SUPPORT
SITEMAP(3)Where to find everything here | FAQFrequently Asked Questions | New!New on this site lately |  Chinese language summary
|
escalating violence in our community
Become a member of the
Sensible Sentencing Trust
Offender Databases
Keith Hopa
.
Attempted murder of Levin man Brendan Nuku in July 2000
Brendan Nuku
Barry Gardiner
Robert Albert
Shaun Hartley
Tawhiti Climie
Levin Louts
Born 1972
unknown
Sentenced to 10 years in September 2001
His final release date March 2007
His sentence end date July 2010
Background
Court of Appeal decision here
From the Daily News 08/09/2001
TWO men convicted of attempted murder, from nine accused, were the organisers not mere parties, a High Court judge has ruled. Defence counsels Andrew Laurenson, for Climie, and Peter Coles, for Hopa, contended the Crown case presented the pair as having no direct role in the July 18, 2000, shooting of Brendon Nuku at Levin. They said the pair were merely parties present at the incident, but Justice Wild rejected the claim. Mr Nuku was shot in the face by a low-velocity bullet when a group arrived at his house. The bullet went into his nasal cavity and was swallowed.
Charges of attempted murder and grievous bodily harm were laid against nine men. The jury acquitted seven of all charges. Justice Wild said he had to sentence the men according to the facts of the case. After hearing three weeks of evidence, he found that after an initial lunchtime confrontation between Nuku and Climie, Climie and Hopa went to other men including the seven other accused. "You asked them to arm themselves and go with you to deal to Mr Nuku." The crime against Mr Nuku that followed, showed the despicable hallmark of cowardice in gang violence where a number of armed people attacked a single person, Justice Wild said.
From the Evening Post 01/12/2001
A Levin man was today sentenced to 15 years jail for the attempted murder of former Levin gang member Brendon Barre Nuku. Shaun Morgan Hartley, 33, had been convicted by a High Court jury earlier this month of the shooting of Mr Nuku in Levin on January 5. Two associates, Robert Nattie Albert, 33, and Barry Peter Gardiner, 42, both of Levin, were jailed for 12 and nine years respectively for the same charge. In the High Court at Palmerston North yesterday, Justice Doogue said the shooting, the second attempt in six months to kill Mr Nuku, was either gang retaliation or an attempted contract killing. He said it was a cold-blooded attempt at murder "which came as close to the completed crime as it is possible to get".
