Birthday celebrations at karaoke bar end with a carpark prang, then a kidnapping

A prang in the carpark of a karaoke bar led to a “chaotic, angry and violent” confrontation after which a man threatened to chop body parts off one of the victims.

After the affray, two victims were held against their will for between one and two hours, threats were made at knifepoint, and demands were made for $30,000 for damage to a car.

A husband and wife were sentenced to lengthy jail terms for kidnapping and other offending.

The dispute happened outside the Tanghui Karaoke Bar in Canada St, central Auckland, in August 2022.

Full details of what happened that night have now been published in a Court of Appeal decision after Jia Ying Wang managed to get her jail term reduced.

Wang and her husband Shontayn Tokorim Taratu were at the karaoke bar to celebrate her birthday.

Another group of eight people was also there.

All had Chinese names but some are also identified in the Court of Appeal decision with anglicised names as well, including Danny, Steven and Reynold.

When Steven left the venue with other members of his group, he accidentally “pranged” into Wang’s car.

“For the life of me I struggled to identify what damage actually was caused as a result of that prang,” said Judge Eddie Paul, who conducted the couple’s trial in the Auckland District Court.

“On any assessment it was not $30,000 worth. It might have been $30 worth. I just don’t know.”

Wang became aware of the damage and descended on the members of the other group remaining in the carpark.

Wang, described as the ringleader in the affray, and other people with her punched Danny repeatedly.

Steven, who had left the area, was called back and even before his car came to a stop, Wang stepped forward and smashed his vehicle’s windows, trying to open the doors.

When the car’s occupants got out, Wang hit and kicked one of them, then punched a woman on the nose.

“The ferocity of the attack which you appear to have led on that car and its occupants was amply demonstrated by the video footage played at the trial,” Judge Paul said.

“It was chaotic, it was angry and it was violent.”

The groups dispersed after police arrived but Steven realised that his car was being followed and pulled over in Union St.

The other car blocked him in and two men, described as Chinese in court documents, approached him, demanding money.

Wang and Taratu were also present. Steven was taken to Wang’s car with a knife pressed to his neck.

Wang demanded $30,000 from Steven, saying he had hit her vehicle and needed to compensate her.

Steven was forced to call his friends to get money, and made to speak in Mandarin so everyone could understand.

Taratu then placed the sharp point of a knife on Steven’s thigh, taunting him.

Reynold showed up in response to Steven’s calls and was made to stand between the cars, unable to leave.

Taratu pulled a knife out of his car and held it against Reynold’s neck for 15 to 20 minutes, causing injuries.

“You, Mr Taratu started threatening him, saying you were from a background of gangsters and you were going to chop various body parts off.”

Reynold was made to call two other friends, who each showed up with $2000.

Another of Wang and Taratu’s associates arrived and took Reynold to an ATM to get another $2000.

When Reynold was brought back to the group, they took his Toyota Hilux work vehicle saying it would be held as collateral until more money was paid.

Wang and Taratu were each found guilty at trial on two counts of kidnapping.

Wang was also found guilty of injuring with intent to injure, intentional damage, two counts of common assault and one of demands with menaces.

She was sentenced to five years and 10 months’ imprisonment, but this has now been reduced to five years and three months by the Court of Appeal.

Taratu was sentenced to four years and five months’ imprisonment, cumulative on a sentence of nine years he was serving for other offending.

A separate decision of the Supreme Court shows that sentence was for two representative charges of offering to supply cocaine and ketamine.

Taratu has made an unsuccessful attempt to appeal against those convictions in the Supreme Court.

Ric Stevens spent many years working for the former New Zealand Press Association news agency, including as a political reporter at Parliament, before holding senior positions at various daily newspapers. He joined NZME’s Open Justice team in 2022 and is based in Hawke’s Bay. His writing in the crime and justice sphere is informed by four years of frontline experience as a probation officer.