The male teens, aged 15 and 16, appeared in Invercargill’s Youth Court before Judge Russell Walker today, each charged with burglary with a weapon.
Lawyers for them submitted the charge was too high for the alleged offending and told the court they would speak with police in an attempt to lower it.
The arrest of the accused followed a police investigation into four violent and allegedly unprovoked assaults in Invercargill on the weekend of May 8 this year.
There was no suggestion that the four in court today were responsible for the other incidents.
According to the police summary of facts, the four spoke to a victim on the dating and social media app Scruff, designed primarily for gay, bisexual and transgender men.
Police allege that on May 8, they organised to go to the victim’s home in Invercargill.
About 9.25pm, one of the accused allegedly stood at the front door speaking to the victim, while the other three stood around the corner.
The trio allegedly threw bricks through the victim’s window.
The teen at the door is accused of then entering the house by kicking his foot through a glass pane of the front door.
The four fled the scene before police arrived.
The teen accused of kicking the glass pane was treated for injuries at the Southland Hospital emergency department that evening.
In court Richard Smith, lawyer for one of the teens, said the charge of burglary with a weapon was too high.
A lawyer for another teen, Sonia Vidal, agreed.
“When you read the police summary it doesn’t equate to the account of the offence,” she submitted.
Lawyer Scott Williamson, for one of the other teens, was critical of police for releasing a public statement.
Williamson claimed the statement made it sound like the four alleged offenders were arrested because of an unrelated assault in the city's Queens Park.
He also called for the charge to be downgraded, submitting that there was evidence the teens were invited on to the victim’s property.
Judge Walker said it was a discussion the lawyers needed to have with police.
The four were granted bail with special conditions, including a curfew between 7pm and 7am, during which they could only leave their homes with a parent.
They were not allowed to go to the street of the alleged offending, use social media or dating apps, or contact one another or the victim.
A previous statement from acting Inspector Mel Robertson, Southland area prevention manager, said police were increasingly concerned about the influence of online and social media trends that were “glorifying” this type of alleged offending.
In the other incidents, unrelated to the four accused today, a victim was allegedly lured to Queens Park on May 8, where they were critically injured. The incident was filmed.
Another person was seriously hurt on May 10 in an unprovoked attack, she said. There was a further assault that weekend.
- By Brianna McIlraith, Open Justice Reporter for NZ Herald
