By Tara Shaskey, Open Justice reporter of 
Aramu Rangi, pictured at an earlier sentencing in Tauranga District Court, has been sentenced for shooting his partner. He was previously sentenced for attacking a gang member with a hammer. Photo: Open Justice / NZME
A woman sitting in a parked vehicle was shot in the face by her drunk partner after he fired a gun several times out the window of a house.
The shooter, Aramu Rangi, was on bail at the time after he brutally attacked a Mongrel Mob member with a hammer, shattering the victim's skull with repeated blows to his head.
Rangi, 38, went on to be sentenced in January to nine years' imprisonment earlier this year for the hammer attack.
On Wednesday, in the New Plymouth District Court, his time behind bars was extended when he was sentenced for the unrelated shooting and drug offences.
As Rangi was brought into the courtroom, he was greeted by a large group of whānau and friends, pleased to see him from the public gallery.
Judge Gregory Hikaka warned Rangi, who was addressing his supporters, to save his socialising for another time, leading defence lawyer Paul Keegan to apologise and say Rangi had not seen them for a while.
As the sentencing progressed, Judge Hikaka detailed how the shooting happened on 23 November 2023, after a night of drinking at an address in New Plymouth.
About 3.20am, Rangi began firing shots out a window at the house.
Four shots went through the bonnet of a vehicle parked in the driveway.
Rangi's partner of one month was sitting in the driver's seat of the car and was hit in the face by one shot, which had ricocheted off the car's roof.
Rangi took the woman to the emergency department, where she was treated for grazes to her nose and upper lip, and fractures to the bone at the base of her tooth.
A tooth was also dislodged.
Judge Hikaka said it was unknown why the woman was sitting in the vehicle, and Rangi's reason for shooting the firearm was not mentioned in court.
The judge said a subsequent police search of Rangi's vehicle revealed 12 rounds of .22 ammunition and a magazine with two live rounds in it.
His cellphone was searched, and data showed he had offered to exchange 1g of methamphetamine and half an ounce of cannabis for a firearm.
It also revealed he had offered to sell a total of 3.7g of methamphetamine to several people, and 59g of cannabis.
Following the incident, Rangi was given a sentencing indication of four years' imprisonment on charges of offering to sell methamphetamine and cannabis, and one count of discharging a firearm with reckless disregard for the safety of others.
He accepted the indication and pleaded guilty to the charges, but at the sentencing, Keegan worked to have the four years reduced after receiving more information on Rangi through a presentence report and a letter from a woman who had known him for most of his life.
Crown prosecutor Jo Woodcock submitted that Rangi should be sentenced based on the judge's indication that he had accepted.
The court heard Rangi's wife of 17 years had died in 2020, leaving him grieving and the sole custodian of their four children.
He spiralled into drug use and other criminal activity soon afterwards.
Rangi previously worked as a stevedore and studied an automotive course.
The woman's letter described Rangi as kind-hearted, generous and loyal.
She said he had become overwhelmed by grief and did not have the tools to cope.
However, the woman said Rangi was "not beyond hope" and she was confident that with the right support, he could become the man he once aspired to be, and who his children deserved.
Judge Hikaka agreed and stated Rangi had shown he was able to do the "right thing".
In light of the new information, the judge said he was able to reduce the sentence by a year.
He imposed three years' imprisonment on the new charges, which Rangi would have to serve on top of the nine years he was already serving.
Life-threatening hammer attack
At the time of the shooting, Rangi was on bail for a hammer attack on patched Mongrel Mob member Mark Walker in February 2022.
He was found guilty by a jury in Tauranga District Court last September on a charge of wounding with intent to cause grievous bodily harm relating to the bashing of Walker.
Rangi had attacked him at Walker's home in Ruatoki, south of Whakatāne, leaving his skull "smashed open and bleeding profusely on the shed floor".
It was believed the violence was connected to the Mob-related killing of Meihana Mason, with whom Rangi had a strong whānau connection.
Walker now has a metal plate in his skull and can only eat soft foods and soups.
* This story originally appeared in the New Zealand Herald.
