A Dunedin teenager is likely to go to jail for his part in a brutal attack on another young man, and has been remanded in custody to await sentencing next month.
Dakaia John Henare (18) appeared before Judge Michael Crosbie in the Dunedin District Court yesterday, on a charge of injuring Joshua James Munro with intent to injure him at Dunedin on January 12.
Henare was jointly charged with Darryl Ngatapi-O-Rehua Shaw, who had already pleaded guilty and was sentenced to 11 months' home detention, community work, and ordered to pay reparation of $1000.
Henare initially denied the charge and elected trial by jury, but yesterday changed his plea to guilty and the jurors were dismissed.
The police summary, which Henare accepted, stated he and Shaw met Munro at a party and pressured him to buy them alcohol.
The trio walked into the city centre, where they consumed pre-mixed alcoholic drinks and smoked the synthetic cannabis product K2.
Henare's aggression frightened Munro and he eventually gave him $12.60 - all the money he had.
But as they sat outside the Hoyts Cinema, Henare punched Munro in the face.
''Henare then placed the complainant in a headlock and squeezed his head so tight that his face ached and he felt pressure inside his skull. When the complainant objected he was punched in the face by Henare,'' the summary stated.
Henare and Shaw pulled Munro into a nearby Moray Pl car park where they repeatedly punched him in the face.
''The complainant cried out for help and put his arms up to deflect the blows, whereupon he was told to stop resisting and was attacked by the defendants with more force. He curled up in a ball and was kicked in the body by Shaw,'' the summary stated.
''At one point during the attack the complainant was held by the throat and couldn't breathe. He then began coughing and spitting blood from his mouth.''
Henare and Shaw left Munro crying and bleeding in the car park, with a broken nose, cracked jaw and suspected broken ribs, as well as bruising, grazing and swelling over his face and body.
Judge Crosbie said Henare was slightly more culpable than Shaw and therefore it was likely he would be sent to prison.
Defence counsel John Westgate said Henare accepted jail was a realistic outcome.
Henare had spent a short time in custody immediately after the incident and had been on electronically monitored bail and subject to a 24-hour curfew since.
Mr Westgate's application yesterday for Henare to be remanded on bail was declined.
Judge Crosbie acknowledged Henare's late guilty plea and his willingness to be part of a restorative justice hearing, but said it was tough on defendants and their families when bail was granted in the lead-up to a likely jail sentence.
''What goes through a young man's mind when a judge has basically told him he's going to jail then lets him out the door? It really isn't in the interests of justice to grant you bail,'' Judge Crosbie said.
Henare was remanded in custody for sentence on November 28.
