A man's cheek and nose were fractured and he suffered numerous cuts and abrasions to other parts of his body during an attack sparked by a dispute over the return of a stereo.
Glenn Aliat McMillan, a 30-year-old Glenavy farm worker, admitted his involvement in the incident which happened last August.
He was due to face a jury trial on a charge of intentional injury but in the Dunedin District Court yesterday pleaded guilty to a substituted charge of injuring by an unlawful act.
He was convicted and remanded by Judge Michael Crosbie for sentence on August 15.
The summary of facts from Crown counsel Richard Smith said the victim in the incident was McMillan's sister's partner, who was at a mutual friend's house in Walter St when McMillan arrived about 5pm on August 25. The defendant spoke to the occupant of the house and there was a disagreement about the return of his stereo which the occupant refused to release until a $30 debt to him had been paid.
McMillan drove away but threatened he "would be back''.
He returned about 10 minutes later with three other men and they all entered the front yard of the property where the victim and his friends were standing. One of the men, not yet identified, said they were there ``for the stereo'' and, without warning, punched the complainant on the jaw.
The complainant's friends all ran inside, locking the door behind them. But the complainant was left alone outside.
He was punched numerous times by the other three men while McMillan stood back. The complainant tried to defend himself but was unable to make any headway against the three attackers. They stopped assaulting him and returned to the car only when the defendant told them to. He then drove them from the scene.
The complainant was taken to hospital with a fracture to his cheek, side of his head and his nose. He also had cuts and abrasions to his knees and the inside of his mouth.
When police spoke to the defendant in Waimate last October, he declined to make a statement or to identify his three co-offenders.
