Two gang associates have admitted their involvement in a drunken street brawl in Dunedin's CBD which left a man with serious injuries.
The incident, on June 25 this year, took place outside Dunedin's casino on Princes St when the defendants - linked to Mangu Kaha Black Power - attacked another group after a verbal stoush turned ugly.
Shakarna Renata Epere (23) and Keith Walter Harry Thomas (21) each pleaded guilty to a count of injuring with intent to injure when they appeared in court in Dunedin this afternoon.
Epere also admitted two charges of assault, while Thomas was convicted of one.
Two other men facing violent charges would appear in the Dunedin District Court next week.
The court heard this morning that tensions reached boiling point at 3.20am on the day in question, when words were exchanged between groups on opposite sides of the street.
One of the defendants' group allegedly removed his top and acted in an “aggressive and hostile manner” towards the victims.
He eventually retreated and the aggression appeared to be subsiding when Epere entered the fray, the court was told.
She pushed one of the victims and continued to try and get at him while members of the public intervened.
Thomas then got involved, running across the road and taking up “a fighting stance”.
After punching a victim in the face and knocking him to the ground in the middle of the road, the defendants' group rushed in.
The most serious part of the melee occurred when one of the victims ended up on his hands and knees.
A 21-year-old defendant allegedly kicked him “football style” in the head, knocking him unconscious.
As the victim lay prone, a 25-year-old man was accused of aiming a flurry of punches at his head.
Matters only came to an end when people stepped in to keep the groups apart.
But Epere was angered by one man's actions and chased him across the street with one of her co-defendants.
Once they caught him, he too was punched in the head, the court was told.
The victim, who was kicked unconscious, sustained two cracked teeth, another two had to be replaced and he needed a dental plate inserted.
Epere and Thomas were remanded on bail and would be sentenced in January.
The other two men remained in custody.
