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Marine Lourens / Things
Randall Clinton Waho was convicted of wounding with intent to wound for his role in the death of Shayne George Heappey.
A prominent figure in the Christchurch Nomads gang had his sentence reduced in four months after a judge did not give him enough credit for his difficult childhood, in which he was “raised by the gang.”
Randall Clinton Waho, 46, was sentenced to three years and three months in prison in February after pleading guilty to injuring with intent to cause serious bodily harm.
Waho admitted that he had given orders for Shayne Heappey to be punished for disrespecting the gang by failing to pay off a debt and not attending meetings to “collect his punishment.”
On December 8, 2018, Heappey was taken to a home in Russley and stabbed 14 times. He was taken to Christchurch Hospital and cared for by medical personnel, but died shortly after.
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Waho denied being the president of the Nomads gang, but acknowledged that he was in a “position of influence” and was entitled to “some respect and deference from other members of the gang.” He said he only intended for Heappey to take a beating and did not order his death.
During Waho’s sentencing in Superior Court, the sentencing judge considered Waho’s remorse and participation in a restorative justice conference, as well as the hardships he suffered as a child.
The court heard that Waho was placed in foster care after his parents died, and then began living on the streets when he was 15 years old. Later he went to live with his uncle, who was the founder of the Nomads gang, which resulted in him being raised by the gang. “
He became a patched member of the gang at age 16.
Waho described her home environment as “scary” and said she witnessed violent gang beatings. His five siblings were also patched members of the gang and it seemed he had no choice but to join them.
He said he had spent the past 22 years in and out of prison, and his longest period out of prison was the five years before Heappey’s death.
Waho’s attorney, Josh Lucas, argued that the sentencing judge should have paid more attention to Waho’s early life, which one writer of the report described as “a roadmap to crime.”
The Court of Appeals agreed that the sentencing judge did not sufficiently consider Waho’s personal mitigating factors and the remorse he displayed.
The court overturned Waho’s original sentence and replaced it with a two-year, 11-month prison sentence.