Mob posse in pack attack at student 21st

A posse of gang members waded into a birthday party and subjected four students to an unprovoked beating, a court has heard. 

John-Boy Toa Rakete, 31, Donald Noel Collins-Roberts, 39, Hunter Joel Kerr, 19, and another teen, who cannot be named, appeared in the Dunedin District Court this morning where they pleaded guilty to their involvement in the March pack attack. 

The victims were attending a 21st birthday party in North Dunedin and were waiting for an Uber, to continue the celebration in town, when the patched Mongrel Mob members showed up. 

The court heard they had a 3-year-old with them who was ushered back to a vehicle by Collins-Roberts before the violence erupted. 

With the gang members acting in an “intimidating and confrontational” way, the partygoers offered them food in a bid to placate them. 

It had little effect. 

The heavily tattooed Collins-Roberts demanded one of the victims hand over his socks. 

“If you’re not going to give us your socks, we want your bitches,” he said. 

After five minutes the men left, telling the residents they would be back the next night for a fight. 

They returned to their vehicle but when one of the students emerged on to the street, Rakete punched him in the head. 

A Crown summary described how another of the partygoers intervened and was “king hit” by Rakete, knocking him on to his back. 

From there, a two-minute onslaught was unleashed – all caught on CCTV. 

Collins-Roberts could be seen kicking one of the victims as he lay on the ground before “vigorously stomping” on his head. 

Two more students entered the fray and got the same treatment. 

One of them held up his hands, gesturing for the mob members to stop, but was punched in the head by Kerr, before others laid into him. 

The court heard the punches continued to be thrown. 

Rakete hit one of the victims with such force his head slammed into a nearby vehicle and the co-defendants continued the flurry of blows as the man was on the ground. 

“The group continued to chase two of the victims down the road, as [they] hold both their hands up in surrender, pleading to the group to stop as they stick tight to the address they came from,” court documents said. 

The victims all sustained concussions. 

The defendants pleaded guilty to three charges of injuring with intent to one of assault with intent to injure; Collins-Roberts admitted an additional charge of demanding with menaces. 

Sentencing will take place in March next year.