A jury has found three Mongrel Mob gang members not guilty of murder.

Luke William Belmont, Maru Puriri Michael Wright and Adrian John Rewiri have been on trial in the High Court at Rotorua since September 4, defending charges of murdering David Kuka in Tauranga in 2018.

The jury found Rewiri guilty of an alternative charge of being an accessory after the fact to murder.

Wright and Belmont were released from custody after the verdicts were heard in court today. Rewiri was remanded in custody for sentencing on Friday.

There was a heavy police and court security staff presence in the courtroom as the verdicts were read out.

Kuka was shot twice on the evening of February 11, 2018 in Tauranga’s Gate Pā suburb.

The police investigation into his death, Operation Ubertas, eventually led to the arrests of four men.

One of those men, Dane Mark Pukepuke from Rotorua, pleaded guilty last year to murdering Kuka.

Tauranga man David Kuka was shot and killed in February 2018.

The trial of the remaining three defendants before Justice Graham Lang and a jury was expected to take six weeks but lasted just over three.

The jury began deliberations on Friday afternoon and gave their verdicts at 12.05pm on Tuesday.

In closing statements on Thursday, Crown prosecutor Richard Jenson said Kuka was an “innocent man” who became the victim of the Mongrel Mob’s thirst for revenge.

Jenson said there could be “no doubt” Pukepuke was “not acting alone”.

“The three defendants each knowingly played their part in the death of Mr Kuka,” Jenson said.

Jenson said Belmont, captain of the Central North Island ‘Notorious’ chapter of the Mongrel Mob, was determined to avenge the death of Lance Wayne Waite, who was shot dead at the same address by a small-time drug dealer six weeks earlier.

The Crown’s case was that Belmont instigated the murder and instructed Pukepuke, while Rewiri supplied the vehicle used and Wright acted as a driver and messenger on the night of the murder.

Jenson said without the three defendants, the murder “would not have happened”.

He previously told the court Rewiri was charged with being an accessory after the fact because he arranged for a vehicle used in the crime to be scrapped “for obvious reasons, to dispose of the evidence”.

Adrian John Rewiri was found not guilty of murder but guilty of being an accessory after the fact to murder. Photo / Andrew Warner

Closing statements were made by defence lawyers on behalf of Belmont, Rewiri and Wright on Friday.

Appearing for Rewiri, Quentin Duff said the Crown was asking the jury to make “a big leap”.

“To let another [Mongrel Mob member] take your car with a noisy wheel and an even noisier muffler is lending someone a stink car, it’s not foreknowledge of murder,” Duff told the jury. He said Rewiri had bought the Ford Falcon for parts and scrapping.

Appearing for Belmont, Bill Nabney told the jury Pukepuke had acted alone, without Belmont’s knowledge.

“Ultimately, you will be required to reach your decision not based on any prejudice or sentiment or sympathy. [Your decision] is going to be based on the evidence that’s been lodged against Mr Belmont.”

Nabney said there was no evidence Belmont was in Tauranga on the day of the murder.

Craig Tuck, appearing on behalf of Wright, told the jury it was the Crown’s job to do the proving.

“All [Wright] wants in this process is a fair go. That’s what you’re going to be delivering for him.”

Tuck said there was no CCTV footage, no phone data, no texts, no evidence of ill feeling and no evidence of any working relationship between Wright and Pukepuke or Belmont.

Maryana Garcia is a regional reporter writing for the Rotorua Daily Post and the Bay of Plenty Times. She covers local issues, health and crime.