KEY POINTS:
One of the men charged over a kidnap and assault of a Dutch honeymoon couple camping in the Bay of Islands has admitted his guilt.
Keith Anthony McEwen, 30, pleaded guilty in Kaikohe District Court this morning to 12 charges which including abducting the newlywed couple at gunpoint in their campervan, raping the wife in front of her husband, and robbing the pair, Radio New Zealand reported.
McEwen's co-accused Christopher Mana Manuel, 27, also appeared but has yet to enter a plea.
The court was told McEwen had been on parole for just over a year when the attack happened in November.
He had spent several years in prison for the burglary of the Kelly Tarlton shipwreck museum in Waitangi in 2000.
- NZPA
