KEY POINTS:
A district court judge has lashed out at one of four teenagers charged over two vicious attacks on Auckland's North Shore, telling him to stand up straight and behave himself after labelling the group "dangerous thugs".
Glenfield teenagers Harlem Haunui Kirton, 18, Jonathon Paul Wilson, 18, Ruaumoko Taiapa, 18, and Clinton John McGinty, 19, appeared yesterday in the North Shore District Court before Judge Mark Perkins.
Kirton, Taiapa and Wilson are charged over two brutal assaults at Milford Beach and Takapuna this month that put four people in hospital with serious head injuries.
Wilson and McGinty face charges from attacks that occurred before and after those attacks.
When Wilson appeared in the dock last week he was topless with his boiler suit overalls tied around his waist but when he walked into the dock yesterday he had tied knots in the torn fabric, piecing them back together to cover his upper body.
However, his matter was stood down and when he reappeared he casually draped his arms over the glass panel that separates the dock from the court, evoking a stern warning from Judge Perkins.
"Mr Wilson!" Judge Perkins ordered sharply.
"Stand up straight and proper. Behave yourself please."
Wilson began fiddling with the knots in his overalls but stood in the dock with his head bowed and his hands behind his back for the rest of his brief appearance.
Speaking outside the court, Wilson's girlfriend told the Herald his earlier lack of clothing was not an act of defiance.
She said his overalls had been torn while he was in custody and he had worn them tied around his waist in an attempt to appear tidier.
Earlier, Judge Perkins had denied McGinty bail. He was the only member of the group to seek it.
McGinty is charged with common assault for an attack on a man at Takapuna which police allege occurred after he teamed up with the group the morning after the two main assaults.
His request drew strong words of condemnation from Judge Perkins.
"You associated yourself and became part of a gang of thugs who went across the North Shore area attacking innocent members of the public."
Judge Perkins noted the serious injuries the victims suffered in the attacks which required hospitalisation.
"Because of the nature of the offending ... wherever you go there is a really significant risk that you would either breach your bail or reoffend," he told McGinty.
"If you are found guilty of the charge which you face then it is inevitable ... that you will be sentenced to a lengthy sentence of imprisonment.
"You and your co-offenders are dangerous thugs. You are a serious risk to innocent members of the community and, in my view, both the community and the victim of your offending need to be protected from you and I have no intention whatsoever of allowing you to be in the community."
He remanded the group in custody until February 11, except Taiapa who will appear again on February 25. A fifth person, a 16-year-old Piha boy, is being dealt with by the North Shore Youth Court for his part in the attacks.
