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NZ Herald
30-07-2025
- NZ Herald
Torture ringleader Israel Lama imprisoned along with ‘lieutenants'; younger brother granted mercy
Younger brother Sefelino Lama, who was 17 at the time of offending, was ordered to serve a sentence of home detention. He is expected to remain at the Grace Foundation rehab facility, which submitted a glowing assessment to the judge. Justice Downs pointed out repeatedly that, due to the younger defendant's age at the time, he was restricted from factoring the repeated violence into the sentence starting point. It included, however, shaving the victim's eyebrows, beating him and extinguishing a cigarette on his forehead. Authorities said Israel Lama instigated the May 2023 torture session after the victim slapped his girlfriend's bottom at an Auckland Central nightclub. But court documents suggest the 23-year-old had an interest in torture well before coming up with a feeble justification to exercise his cruelty. He had earlier created the handle 'torturous88″ on Instagram – 88 being a reference the the Head Hunters, widely recognised in New Zealand's criminal underworld. Some of the acts for which he was sentenced today were recorded and used as content for the now-deleted account. Six other men have admitted to having followed Israel Lama's lead that morning, including another younger brother who is set to be sentenced later this week. Power drill, hammer and pole The victim and the defendants were in downtown Auckland about 4am on a Sunday morning when the victim was confronted about his suspected inappropriate behaviour inside a nearby bar. He repeatedly denied touching the woman and agreed to go back to the bar to check CCTV with the group. Police later discovered through CCTV that he had touched the woman. Instead of taking the man back to the nightclub, the group took him to a Helensville home associated with the Head Hunters. The group made the victim strip naked before he was seated in a camping chair, as Lama ordered co-defendant Jade Jerome to bind his arms and legs with electrical cords. Jade Jerome appears in the dock in the High Court at Auckland in May 2025, just before pleading guilty to participating in the prolonged torture of a stranger. Photo / Michael Craig 'Israel Lama uplifted a Makita electric impact driver fitted with a screwdriver bit and started drilling a hole in [the victim's] left thigh,' the agreed summary of fact states, noting that the drill was also used on his shin and knee. 'The drill was used forcefully so that even though the impact driver was not fitted with a threaded drill bit, it deeply penetrated [the victim's] flesh and muscle approximately one centimetre.' As he drilled, Israel Lama began to interrogate the stranger, who continued to deny he had slapped the woman's bottom. His wounds were later treated with toilet paper and tape before the elder Lama switched torture tactics, retrieving a large knife that had been heated up on a nearby gas burner. The knife was used to cut the victim's chest before the flat end was used to cause severe burns, including on his face. The victim was then ordered by Israel Lama to get on the floor, at which point the crowd began punching and kicking him, including blows to his head. Group members passed around an aluminium pole and beat the man until the pole became so bent it was no longer usable. 'The defendants complained about this and taunted [the victim] for breaking the pole,' court documents state. 'They joked about having to beat [him] further for breaking their pole.' 'Right to hang your head' The beating stopped after Israel Lama came up with another sadistic tactic and ordered someone to bring him a jug of hot water. As others held down the squirming victim, the ringleader again ordered him to confess, which he refused. 'Israel Lama then poured the hot water onto [his] already seared chest and poured the hot water onto [his] genitals,' documents state, noting that others in the room yahooed and laughed as he did so. '[He] could not offer resistance and remained on the ground trying to protect his genitals.' Another person then splashed cold water on the victim. At that point, Jerome used a hammer to repeatedly hit the man's legs, shins and knees – making it difficult for him to walk afterwards. Israel Lama appears in the High Court at Auckland in May 2025. Photo / Michael Craig Israel Lama later took the victim's own belt and began whipping him with it. He then passed the item around as others in the room took turns – bruising his back and bottom. Samuel Lama – the brother who is to be sentenced later this week - strangled him for around 10 seconds, lifting him off the ground by his neck. The two younger Lama brothers stood guard after others 'retired from the torture to rest', making conversation with the victim and explaining that they used to be with the Bloods gang before switching allegiance to the Head Hunters. The victim asked if he could get dressed and the brothers refused – a callous indignity that the judge repeartedly referred to today. 'You are right to hang your head,' he told the younger defendant. The victim was subjected to another round of beating with the belt, while Israel Lama made racist remarks and comments about slavery, before the younger brothers and Jerome took him away because a gang meeting was about to start. But he was brought back about an hour later, at which point Lama debated with the victim whether he should let him go. He suggested the victim would need to pay him $20,000 before he could be set free. The victim said he didn't have that kind of money but offered to work for him to pay it off, the agreed facts state. He was dropped off where the ordeal started in Auckland Central. Lama had given him a deadline of four days to come up with the $20,000. 'Frankly disturbing' Defence lawyer Mark Edgar acknowledged his client's demand for money but said it wasn't extortion so much as a throw-away comment after Israel Lama had already decided to release him. The judge wasn't so convinced. Edgar also acknowledged his client was the 'elder statesman' of the group but said he was damaged by his own violent upbringing. Jade Jerome, left, and Israel Lama stand in the dock in the High Court at Auckland during their arraignment in May 2025. Photo / Michael Craig 'It was triggering for him,' Edgar said of the bottom slap. 'He was feeling rage. He had no plan. He was very distraught ... and very, very angry. '... This was very much an issue of history repeating itself.' The victim, who was referred to as 'X' because of his permanent name suppression, 'exacerbated' what happened due to his persistent denials, the defence lawyer said. He said his client realised 'the enormity of what he had done' after taking a short rest that morning. He then took steps to release the victim, he said. 'He's ashamed,' Edgar said. 'He's ashamed for his family. He's ashamed he brought his brothers in this, who simply followed his lead.' But Crown prosecutor Pip McNabb emphasised that the offending was 'cruel, callous and degrading' – and among the worst of its kind. She pointed out that he was already on bail for three seperate offences at the time of the offending and is now serving a three-year sentence for the previous crimes, including a disturbing robbery in which he urinated on the victim. The judge agreed. 'That X had slapped your girlfriend's bottom does not make your offending any less serious,' Justice Downs said. 'I reject any notion that it does.' He described the facts of the case as 'frankly disturbing'. Auckland High Court judge Justice Matthew Downs. 'Pleasure – I repeat, pleasure – was taken in the torture of a fellow human being,' he said, pointing out that the main defendant then used social media 'like a trophy'. The judge quoted extensively from the victim impact statement, which was not read aloud in court. 'I may have survived physically, but mentally I live with this every day,' the victim said, explaining: 'I don't sleep. I panic when I hear power tools or raised voices. 'I flinch in public. I carry the fear this could happen again.' The victim noted that, like the defendants, he had also known struggle and hardship. 'But never, ever would I think of doing something like this to another human being,' he wrote. 'Active lieutenants throughout' Also appearing for sentencing today were co-defendants Jerome, Harmon Unasa and Nathan Tuaiti. Co-defendant Ricky Harder, whose participation was found to be limited, was sentenced in May to home detention. Former Head Hunters prospect Ricky Harder appears in the High Court at Auckland for sentencing after admitting to having participated in the May 2023 kidnapping and torture of a stranger. Photo / Michael Craig Lawyers for Jerome and Unasa both told the judge today that their clients were remorseful for their participation. Jerome's lawyer, Ian Tucker, emphasised that his client has no ties to the Head Hunters. But prosecutors asked for a starting point sentence, before reductions were taken into account, of 11 years each. It was just two years less than the ringleader, McNabb said, because both men participated in the violence and served as Israel Lama's 'right-hand men'. The judge agreed to the 11-year starting point, explaining that anything less wouldn't be fitting of such a 'prolonged, multi-faceted and sadistic' kidnap and torture. He pointed out that there's nothing in court documentation suggesting that the ringleader asked Jerome to beat the victim with a hammer. 'You did that seemingly on your own initiative,' he said. 'That speaks volumes.' As with the other defendants, the judge declined to allow a reduction for remorse. Nathan Tuaiti appears in the High Court at Auckland to plead guilty to participating in the prolongued torture of a man who slapped the bottom of a mate's partner in an Auckland nightclub. Photo / Craig Kapitan 'There were many, many opportunities over the 19 or 20 hours for an act of compassion,' the judge said, explaining that it could have been as simple as offering the victim a glass of water. 'Something to acknowledge that he was another human. 'Neither of you, nor anyone else for that matter, did anything of the sort.' He ordered sentences of eight years and six and a half months imprisonment for Unasa and eight years and three months for Jerome. They, too, will have to serve at least half of their sentences before they can apply for parole. 'You were willing and active lieutenants throughout,' the judge explained. Tuaiti will be sentenced later today. More to come Craig Kapitan is an Auckland-based journalist covering courts and justice. He joined the Herald in 2021 and has reported on courts since 2002 in three newsrooms in the US and New Zealand. Sign up to The Daily H, a free newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.
NZ Herald
21-05-2025
- NZ Herald
Three plead guilty in High Court at Auckland to brutal torture, kidnapping
Earlier in May, Head Hunters Motorcycle gang member Israel Lama, whose partner was inappropriately touched by the victim, pleaded guilty to kidnapping and a raft of assault charges. Jade Jerome and King Cobras patched member Nathan Tuaiti also pleaded guilty at that time. Ricky Harder was the earliest to plead guilty in October last year. The victim, while having survived the ordeal, suffered multiple injuries – including burns to his face and chest, wounds to his legs, lacerations over his chest and bruising on his back. He did not report the matter but was discovered by chance by police officers who were at the same hospital attending to another matter. According to an agreed summary of facts, the victim was first confronted by Israel Lama on a street in Auckland's CBD around 4.20am on May 28, 2023, about what he did to his partner earlier that morning. It was later confirmed through CCTV footage viewed as part of the police investigation that the victim did slap Lama's girlfriend's bottom. At the time, the victim denied the act and was asked to go with the group to check the CCTV at the bar. The victim agreed, although suspecting that something else would happen. He was subsequently driven by the group to a house where he would be tortured for hours – after his associate, who followed the offending group's car, was told to stop following. Once at the house, the victim was made to strip naked and seated in a camping chair; his feet and hands were tied together with electronic cables under the direction of Israel Lama. Israel Lama then used a Makita electric impact driver, fitted with a screwdriver, to drill three holes in the victim's legs as he was being held down by Jerome, Unasa and Tuaiti. As Israel Lama drilled, he interrogated the victim about whether he had slapped his girlfriend's bottom earlier, to which the victim continued to deny the act. Israel Lama later directed others to get toilet paper and tape to treat the victim's wounds. Israel Lama then used a kitchen knife that was heated on a gas burner to burn the victim's face and chest, as the man was held down by others in the group. The victim was then asked to get on to the floor, where he was punched and kicked by everyone in the group. Harder used a metal pole to beat the victim and the pole was passed around the group for others to hit the victim. 'After several blows the aluminium pole bent and became unusable. The defendants complained about this and taunted [the victim] for breaking the pole,' the summary of facts stated. 'They joked about having to beat [the victim] further for breaking their pole.' The group continued to punch and kick the victim until Israel Lama told them to stop. Sefilino Fuli Lama and Jerome were not charged in relation to this offence. Later, Israel Lama poured hot water on to the victim while he was being held down by Unasa, Jerome and Tuaiti. '[The victim] could not remain still as this occurred and squirmed around in pain,' the summary of facts said. Israel Lama then poured hot water on to the victim's chest and genitals after he continued to deny slapping Lama's girlfriend's bottom. Jerome used a hammer to hit the victim's legs, shins and knees repeatedly. In another round of assault, Israel Lama took the victim's belt and whipped him, before passing the belt to others who took turns whipping the victim. Samuel Lama also used the belt to strangle the victim for about 10 seconds. The group rested before Israel Lama returned to further whip the victim with the belt and verbally abused him with racist comments. 'The rest of the offending group were present and encouraged Israel Lama,' the statement of facts said, and added that Lama again handed the belt to others to continue to whip the victim. While the victim tried to loosen his restraints, Sefilino Fuli Lama struck him twice with the belt and later shaved off parts of the victim's eyebrows. He also burned the victim's forehead with a lit cigarette. Israel Lama uploaded videos of the victim being tortured to social media, including the victim being gagged and having hot water poured over him. 'Ol mate here reckons he can slap me Mrs arse in the club,' one of the captions read. At some point, one of the victim's associates, who was known to Israel Lama, called him to demand release of the man. Before releasing the victim, Israel Lama told the victim that he owed him $20,000 and asked him to pay before he could release him. The victim said he didn't have the money but offered to work for Lama to pay it off. The victim was given food and asked to shower before being handed over to his associates, who then took him to hospital. The police arrested Israel Lama on June 2, 2023, and discovered on his phone a large number of videos showing the victim being tortured. Sefilino Fuli Lama, Samuel Lama and Nathan Tuaiti are on bail, while the rest of the group are in custody. The seven defendants are expected to be sentenced in July. Each faces up to 14 years' imprisonment for kidnapping and wounding with intent to cause grievous bodily harm.
RNZ News
21-05-2025
- RNZ News
Trio plead guilty over kidnapping, torture of man after he slapped gang member's girlfriend's bum
Photo: RNZ / John Edens Three people who were involved in the kidnapping and brutal torture of a man, after he slapped a gang member's girlfriend's bottom at a bar, have pleaded guilty at Auckland's High Court on Wednesday. Harmon Marcellus Unasa, Sefilino Fuli Lama and Samuel Lama were among a group that subjected a stranger to torture at a property in rural Northwest Auckland in 2023, including drilling holes into his legs, hitting him with a pole, and pouring hot water over him. The three pleaded guilty to kidnapping and multiple assault charges before Justice Graham Lang, supported by more than a dozen members of their families, including children. Earlier in May, Head Hunters Motorcycle gang member Israel Lama - whose partner was inappropriately touched by the victim - had pleaded guilty to kidnapping and a raft of assault charges. Jade Jerome and King Cobras patched member Nathan Tuaiti had also pleaded guilty at the time. Ricky Harder was the earliest to plead guilty in October last year. The victim, while having survived the ordeal, suffered multiple injuries - including burns to his face and chest, wounds to his legs, lacerations over his chest, and bruising on his back. He did not report the matter but was discovered by chance by police officers who were at the same hospital attending another matter. According to an agreed summary of facts, the victim was first confronted by Israel Lama on a street in Auckland CBD around 4.20am on 28 May 2023, about what he did to his partner earlier that morning. It was later confirmed through CCTV footage viewed as part of the police investigation that the victim did slap Lama's girlfriend's bottom. At the time, the victim denied the act and was asked to go with the group to check the CCTV at the bar. The victim agreed, although suspecting that something else would happen. He was subsequently driven by the group to a house where he would be tortured for hours - after his associate who followed the offending group's car was told to stop following. Once at the house, the victim was made to strip naked and seated in a camping chair; his feet and hands were tied together with electronic cables under the direction of Israel Lama. Israel Lama then used a Makita electric impact driver, fitted with a screwdriver, to drill three holes in the victim's legs, as he was being held down by Jerome, Unasa and Tuaiti. As Israel Lama drilled, he interrogated the victim on if he'd slapped his girlfriend's bottom earlier, to which the victim continued to deny the act. Lama later directed others to get toilet paper and tape to treat the victim's wounds. Israel Lama then used a kitchen knife that was heated on a gas burner, to burn the victim's face and chest, as the victim was being held down by others in the group. The victim was then asked to get onto the floor, where he was punched and kicked by everyone in the group. Harder used a metal pole to beat the victim, and the pole was then passed around the group for others to hit the victim. "After several blows the aluminium pole bent and became unusable. The defendants complained about this and taunted [the victim] for breaking the pole. "They joked about having to beat [the victim] further for breaking their pole" the summary of facts stated. The group continued to punch and kick the victim until Israel Lama told them to stop. Sefilino Fuli Lama and Jerome were not charged in relation to this offence. Later, Israel Lama poured hot water onto the victim while he was being held down by Unasa, Jerome and Tuaiti. "[The victim] could not remain still as this occurred and squirmed around in pain," the summary of facts said. Israel Lama then poured hot water onto the victim's chest and genitals after he continued to deny slapping Lama's girlfriend's bottom. Jerome used a hammer to hit the victim's legs, shins and knees repeatedly. In another round of assault, Israel Lama took the victim's belt and whipped him, before passing the belt to others who took turns whipping the victim. Samuel Lama also used the belt to strangle the victim for about 10 seconds. The group rested before Israel Lama returned to further whip the victim with the belt and verbally abused him with racist comments. "The rest of the offending group were present and encouraged Israel Lama," the statement of facts said, and added that Lama again handed the belt to others to continue to whip the victim. While the victim tried to loosen his restraints, Sefilino Fuli Lama struck him twice with the belt, and later shaved off parts of the victim's eyebrows. He also burned the victim's forehead with a lit cigarette. Israel Lama uploaded videos of the victim being tortured to social media - including the victim being gagged, and having hot water poured over him. "Ol mate here reckons he can slap me Mrs arse in the club," one of the captions read. At some point, one of the victim's associates known to Israel Lama called him to demand release of the victim. Before releasing the victim, Israel Lama told the victim that he owed him $20,000, and asked him to pay before he could release him. The victim said he didn't have the money but offered to work for Lama to pay it off. The victim was given food and asked to shower before being handed over to his associates, who then took him to hospital. The police arrested Israel Lama on 2 June 2023, and discovered on his phone a large number of videos showing the victim being tortured. Sefilino Fuli Lama, Samuel Lama and Nathan Tuaiti are on bail, while the rest of the group are in custody. The seven defendants are expected to be sentenced in July. Each faces up to 14 years' imprisonment for kidnapping and wounding with intent to cause grievous bodily harm. Sign up for Ngā Pitopito Kōrero, a daily newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.
