Basketballer tells of bashing

Wellington Saints basketballer David Hopoi remembers little about a beating that left him unconscious in a New Plymouth gutter.

On Saturday night, the 26-year-old was out with team-mates after his side's loss to the Taranaki Mountain Airs in the National Basketball League.

About 3am on Sunday, Hopoi was set upon by a gang of youths near an inner-city bar and bashed unconscious.

Still heavily concussed, and recovering with family in Wainuiomata, Hopoi said yesterday that his recollection of the ordeal remained sketchy.

"I've got seven stitches on the back of my head, my jaw's a bit swollen and I've got a few scratches on the side of my head," he said.

"I just came out of the bar and saw a group of people confronting [teammate] George [Le'afa].

"I went over to help, as you do, and that's the last thing I remember."

Hopoi said he was later told that one of the attackers hit him from behind.

"And that's when I fell and hit my head on the gutter and was knocked out."

Hopoi said the incident had left him shaken and he would be wary when out in the future. "When I think about it I was so lucky that nothing else happened - it could have been so much worse - I'm grateful to be alive."

Hopoi said he had received messages of support from team-mates and friends and his focus was to bounce back on the court.

"I'll be going to team training to watch. I don't want the team morale to be down so if I show my face then it'll pick things up."

Saints chief executive Michael Bennington said the attack had left the team disappointed and angry.

"Personally I hold nothing against [New Plymouth], it was a group of thugs and it could have happened in Wellington, Auckland or anywhere," he said.

"It was just the wrong place, wrong time and I'm just pleased the cops managed to get a hold of who was responsible and hopefully they will be dealt with pretty swiftly."

Mr Bennington said the incident was captured on a closed-circuit camera and police had made an arrest.

A 24-year-old South Taranaki man is due to appear in New Plymouth District Court tomorrow in relation to the assault.

- NZPA