Bombing after gang clash in North

Press, 12 April 1979, Page 3

Bombing after gang clash in North

PA Whangarei Gang warfare flared in Whangarei early yesterday and the city had its first fire-bombing. A flat used by members of Whangarei’s Black Power gang was hit by a Molotov cocktail at 1.15 a.m. The bomb burst outside the house, smashed two windows and burnt curtains but did little other damage. Nobody was hurt. A confrontation occurred between members of the local Black Power gang and Auckland members at the Headhunters gang at a Whangarei billiards room at 2.45 p.m. on Tuesday. Six of the Headhunters were in town on the way to the funeral of a member of their gang, Joseph Timothy Arama, at Matangirau, a tiny settlement seven kilometres from Whangaroa. Mr Arama was shot dead in Auckland on April 5. Yesterday Chief Inspector R. B. McCarthy rejected a television allegation that the Headhunters’ visit was one of vengeance for their dead comrade. The clash at the billiards saloon threatened to turn to violence as the Black Power members armed themselves with bricks. The Headhunters members were inside the saloon, a recognised meeting place of the Black Power gang. The police moved in quickly and escorted Black Power gang members away from the scene.

After the explosion at the flat, the neck of a blackened broken bottle lay on the footpath, broken glass was scattered about, and charred cloth lay nearby. The police made house-to-house inquiries in the area. They earlier described the confrontation as caused more by injured pride rather than threats of violence.