A high-ranking Tribesmen gang member has pleaded not guilty to the attempted murder of his own outlaw motorbike group’s leader.

The 36-year-old, who continues to have name suppression, stood before Justice Sally Fitzgerald today for his first appearance in the High Court at Auckland.

The judge set a trial date for April 2024.

The defendant was arrested on December 17, more than one month after Tribesmen president Dion “Buzz” Snell was shot outside an Ōtara area as he and other fans celebrated Samoa’s victory over Tonga in the Rugby League World Cup.

Snell had shown up at Middlemore Hospital on November 7 with what police would later describe as critical injuries.

But four days later Snell was riding his motorbike at a Kumeu vineyard, where the gang’s Ōtara chapter was celebrating its 40th anniversary.

Police said the Armed Offender’s Squad executed a search warrant at a Manurewa address a month later as the defendant was taken into custody.

Although he received interim name suppression during his first court appearance in December, in Manukau District Court, the Herald was able to reveal he was a close associate of Snell and a member of the same gang.

Authorities have not indicated what the motivation for an alleged attack might have been.