KEY POINTS:
A hearing has begun to decide whether four teenagers and a woman should stand trial in connection with two violent bashings on Auckland's North Shore in January.
Harlem Haunui Kirton, Jono Paul Wilson, Ruaumoko Taiapa and a 16-year-old who cannot be named appeared at the North Shore Youth Court yesterday charged over separate attacks on two couples in the early hours of January 15.
Kirton, Wilson and Taiapa are charged with four counts of aggravated robbery and four counts of grievous bodily harm with intent to cause harm.
Kirton also faces a charge of injury with intent to injure and with common assault.
The 16-year-old, from Piha, west of Auckland, has automatic name suppression due to his age.
Also appearing at the depositions hearing is Taiapa's mother Kiriana Taiapa, who is charged with being an accessory after the fact.
In the first incident, a 20-year-old woman and a 25-year-old man were allegedly bashed with a baseball bat at Milford Beach.
In the second, another couple, also 20 and 25, were allegedly set upon by a group of males in Takapuna.
- NZPA
