A sergeant-at-arms of a gang embroiled in tit-for-tat shootings with the Killer Beez on Auckland's streets was denied parole just before renewed tensions erupted between the two groups. 

Tribesmen enforcer Akustino Tae was sentenced to seven years imprisonment in May 2020 for shooting his former close friend, Killer Beez boss Josh Masters. 

The shooting at a Harley Davidson dealership left Masters paralysed. 

Relations between the Killer Beez, formerly a youth feeder gang for the Tribesmen, have never recovered. 

Tensions between the gangs have erupted several times in recent years in public shooting wars. 

The latest conflict has seen more than a dozen houses shot up with innocent victims repeatedly caught in the crossfire. 

On Friday, police announced they had arrested 19 people and laid 25 charges as part of their investigation into the conflict. 

The following day, another house was shot up in Beach Haven due to the historic Tribesmen gang affiliations of a man living there. 

On April 21 at Auckland South Corrections Facility in Wiri, Tae appeared before a parole board. 

A recently released written decision from panel convenor Judge Jane Lovell-Smith said a psychological report dated March 4 assessed Tae as being of moderate risk of general reoffending and a medium risk of violent reoffending. 

But "due to his lack of rehabilitative process, a formal assessment of the feasibility of his release was unable to be conducted," the decision said. 

It had been recommended Tae attend Saili Matagi, a rehabilitation programme for Pasifika prisoners, but due to reasons withheld in the decision he was unable to be transferred to attend the programme. 

Akustino Tae, pictured during an appearance at the Manukau District Court in 2008, is no stranger to gun violence. He lost an eye and had shotgun pellets removed from his brain after a shooting in 2008. Photo: NZPA / Wayne Drought 

The decision said he had started psychological treatment on April 11, "which will continue until necessary". 

"Although he had completed individual treatment with an external psychologist, the Departmental psychologist assessed that he had not retained content from it," the decision said. 

"Mr Tae was very realistic about the outcome today. 

"He acknowledged that he needs individual psychological treatment and that prior to release he will need to participate in a whānau hui." 

Tae acknowledged he would require about 12 months to complete any treatment, the decision said. 

"Parole is declined as Mr Tae is untreated and his risk undue." 

An earlier parole decision from November last year reveals he was unable to complete Saili Matagi due to a combination of the Covid lockdown and the prison not wanting Tribesmen and Killer Beez members in the same programme. 

That decision said he had completed some rehabilitative treatment where he was said to have participated well. 

He was said be in the process of "turning his life around and living a violence-free life," the decision said. 

However, he was "noted to be reluctant to extricate himself from his gang affiliations," the decision said. 

Akustino Tae appearing at Manukau District Court in 2019 after he was charged with shooting Killer Beez boss Josh Masters. Photo / Doug Sherring. 

The convenor of that panel, Kathryn Snook, said in her decision the board remained concerned about Tae's risk to the community. 

"We talked to him about the offending. 

"He was a little vague about what happened on the day. He said that he did have the gun with him in the car." 

Tae said he had been carrying the gun around for a couple of weeks due to escalating tensions in Ōtara amid an earlier series of shootings. 

"We asked him where the gun was normally. He said it was at home. He said he had only obtained it a couple of weeks earlier. 

"While we could understand aspects of Mr Tae's explanation for the offending, in the 
context of his own specific fear about the victim, we were concerned about risk to 
community safety from someone who was carrying a gun around in his car, at least in the 
time leading up to this offence." 

He is next due before the board in April 2023. 

- by George Block, NZ Herald