Victim’s family moves ahead of brutal gang member John-Boy Rakete’s release from prison

A gang member whose attack led to the death of a Dunedin man will be released from prison tomorrow.

But the victim’s family has not been told whether 27-year-old John-Boy Rakete will live in Dunedin and has decided to move to the North Island to avoid the possibility of a chance encounter.

“We don’t want to see or hear about him or deal with him,” said Michelle, Nigel Landreth’s sister.

“What he did was sick, evil and disgusting.”

Rakete, a patched member of the Mongrel Mob, was jailed for two years and two months after the attack on a South Dunedin gas station yard in 2018.

A single punch knocked Nigel Landreth down and his head slammed into the concrete.

As he lay bleeding from his ear, being tended to by a trucker, Rakete returned and served him a soda.

Landreth died 14 months after the incident, outside the legal deadline at the time for the defendant to be held legally responsible.

Rakete will serve the last day of his sentence today and is due to be released tomorrow, but will serve six months of post-release conditions.

The direction in which that would happen was conjecture at his final Board of Parole hearing, which took place last week.

The proposed location, which was redacted in documents published to the Otago Daily Times, had not been evaluated for the feasibility of electronic monitoring.

If Rakete couldn’t be monitored there, she would have to live outside of Dunedin, said panel convener Mary More.

The uncertainty was too much for Michelle Landreth, who said she was concerned that she or her mother might accidentally run into the man responsible for the death of her loved one.

They had implored the Board of Parole not to allow Dunedin’s release, a submission adopted by others, many of whom Michelle Landreth had never met, who took up the case after learning of the case.

She remained convinced that Rakete should have been punished with a harsher prison sentence, but said she would not allow negative emotions to ruin her life.

“I think people have assumed that I am angry, vindictive or bitter, but I am not that person at all,” said Michelle Landreth.

She told the ODT that Rakete would never get forgiveness from her family.

She hoped the move north would allow her and her mother to remember “all the good times with Nigel,” away from the constant reminders of their loss.

Rakete’s release conditions included undergoing electronic monitoring; live at an address approved by parole; do not contact any victim; to inform parole of any change in employment status; not possess alcohol or non-prescription drugs; attend a psychological evaluation and any treatment as directed; and attend a reintegration meeting as indicated by the trial period.