Judge Michael Crosbie upsets 'Gang'.

 

 

[1] This is an appeal against a decision of District Court Judge Crosbie who, on 27 April 2012, sentenced the appellant to 150 hours community work because of his contempt of Court. Leave to appeal out of time was granted.

[2] The appellant had been a member of the public gallery in the District Court on the morning of 26 April 2012. A fellow gang member had been placed in custody. Mr Wong Tong stood and was observed by the Judge to raise his hand and with a clenched fist uttered or yelled out "Sieg Heil", and then he and his colleagues started to leave the Court in an abrupt and noisy fashion. At the Judge’s direction, the appellant was taken into custody and held in contempt. At the end of the day’s sitting, he came back before the Court after assistance from the duty solicitor. When he was placed before the Court he apologised to the Judge. He said:

 I’m very sorry for what was done. Didn’t know. It was a big understanding. It’ll be the last time I see him for a while. I don’t know. Get out of hand. It won’t happen again. It was one of one.

 [3] As Mr Turner, his counsel, correctly pointed out, in cases of contempt the fact that there is an apology to the Judge is important and is taken into account – and I do.


I had to 'google' Sieg Heil, I had no idea what it meant. But  Judge Tony Adeane seems to know what it means.

A mongrel mob associate's grasp of history was sadly exposed in a Napier court when a judge asked him what he thought the term "sieg heil" meant. 
 
"It's just another way of saying hi to the bros," Fabian Hungahunga, 21, replied when Judge Tony Adeane asked what he thought the term meant. 
 
The term, adopted by the Nazi Party in the 1930s to signal obedience to the party's leader, Adolf Hitler, is commonly used by Mongrel Mob members. 
 
Hungahunga had screamed the words, and other abuse, at the Napier team policing unit on the evening of New Year's Eve. 
 
The intoxicated Hungahunga, who was with a group of associates, was arrested and charged with disorderly behaviour. 
 
When he pleaded guilty to the charge in Napier District Court yesterday, Judge Adeane said, "What's this sieg heil business, Mr Hungahunga? ... What does that mean?" 
 
"Ahhh, it's just another way of saying hi to the bros," Hungahunga replied. 
 
"OK. The man who made the phrase popular would have a very different way of dealing with you, Mr Hungahunga. However, today you're fined $300 and court costs of $130," the judge said. 
 
As Hungahunga left the dock, his lawyer Philip Jensen remarked that "it was a German phrase popular in the 60s in the Commando comics". 
 
"Actually it goes back a bit further than that, Mr Jensen. It was made popular in the 30s when very different rules applied," Judge Adeane said.