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Offender Databases Tema Moke

Tema Graham Moke

Alias

.

Offences

Home invasion of a Lower Hutt home in Juky 2005, and kidnapping and seriously assaulting one of the occupants

Victims

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Offender Affiliations

Bruce Grant

Gang affiliations

Mongrel Mob

Age

Born 1988

Current Location

Prison

Parole/Release Dates

Sentenced to 6 years 3 months with a 3 year 9 month non parole period in May 2006

Background
From NZ Lawyer 26th May 2006
A young Mongrel Mob prospect trying to prove his worth to the gang has been jailed for six years and three months for a home invasion in which he wielded a claw hammer. Tema Graham Moke, 18, of Lower Hutt, was sentenced in the High Court at Wellington today for kidnapping, aggravated burglary and wounding with intent to cause grievous bodily harm.

Justice Warwick Gendall imposed a minimum non-parole period of three years and nine months to reflect the seriousness of the crime and the danger Moke posed to society.

Moke was one of three Mongrel Mob prospects who, armed with hammers and a steel car jack, broke into a Lower Hutt home about 4am on July 20 last year They attacked the home owner Tony Cancian, whose father had been killed in a home invasion 23 years ago, inflicting serious head and body injuries. Mr Cancian managed to escape and seek help after striking one assailant on the head with a piece of wood as Moke's co-offender Bruce Andrew Grant held Mr Cancian's wife and two daughters in a bedroom. Police caught Grant inside the house and he is now also serving a six years and three months' jail term.

Moke and another offender, who has never been identified, got away but Moke was arrested a week later. Today, wearing a Rimutaka Prison T-shirt and tracksuit pants, Moke was told he had caused "grave harm" to the victim and his family. Justice Gendall said Moke had shown no remorse and had eight previous convictions – three of them handed down after the home invasion in July.

Justice Gendall also doubted Moke's assertion he was only "taking the rap" for somebody else and said the three prospects were trying to prove their worth to the Mongrel Mob by doing the crime. For Moke, lawyer Chris Nicholls said he was not a lost cause. "I asked him what he wants to do with his life given he's made such a hash of the start of it. "He does have dreams; he's good at cooking and said he might work in a restaurant one day." Moke last month tried to change his plea from guilty to not guilty saying his confession had been false, but was not allowed to do so.

Dominion Post story 27/05/2006

A teenage gang prospect has been jailed for six years and three months for the home invasion and attack on a Lower Hutt man whose father was killed by intruders more than 20 years ago. In the High Court at Wellington yesterday, Tema Graham Moke, 18, of Naenae, received the same sentence imposed on another man involved. He has to serve at least three years and one month of the sentence. A third offender has never been identified.

The victim was Tony Cancian, whose father, Robert, was killed in a home invasion. Tony Cancian fought back when three men smashed their way into his home about 4am on July 20 last year. He disarmed one man, Bruce Andrew Grant, as Grant stood over his wife and daughters with a steel bar. Grant, 23, was originally sentenced to five years' jail but the High Court increased it to six years and three months after police appealed. Moke pleaded guilty to charges of aggravated burglary, wounding with intent to cause grievous bodily harm and kidnapping. Justice Warwick Gendall said all three were gang prospects

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Corrections and Additional Information
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