Mongrel Mob pair jailed after stomping on unconscious man's head in Hastings gang brawl

A Mongrel Mob associate and a member have been jailed for a violent assault. Photo / File

Two men who stomped on an unconscious victim's head during a Hastings gang fight were arrested after a police officer filmed the fracas from a safe distance.

According to a police summary of facts, the officer filmed the November 10 brawl from a distance as he feared for his safety if he intervened in the fight involving 25 men.

Erueti Wirihana, 22, and Eddie Paul, 42, appeared in the Napier District Court today.

Wirihana - a Mongrel Mob gang member - admitted injuring with intent to injure and unlawful assembly.

Paul - a gang associate - pleaded guilty to the same charges, as well as three counts of assault with a weapon.

Wirihana was sentenced to two years and one month in prison, and Paul was sentenced to two years and nine months.

The police summary of facts said on November 10, about 25 men had been fighting on Bledisloe St, in the Hastings suburb of Raureka.

Paul and Wirihana had kicked and stomped an unconscious man lying face down on the ground. The man had been punched unconscious after getting himself isolated during the brawling.

Wirihana kicked the man in the face, causing his head to jerk back.

He, Paul and a third unidentified man kicked and stomped the victim.

The trio landed multiple blows to the man who suffered a broken nose, a fractured face, multiple cuts and bruises. He was hospitalised for three days.

Police were unable to identify other offenders, or ascertain other injuries.

Paul and Wirihana both told police that when their gangs fought, they fought.

Judge Geoff Rea referred to the offending as gang warfare, Stuff reported.

For the Crown, Cameron Stuart said the offending was an example of increasingly public violence. The offending had targeted the victim's head and required a denouncing sentence.

Paul's lawyer Alexandra McPherson expressed condolences to the victim and said Paul wanted to do better in future for his grandchildren, Stuff reported.

Wirihana's lawyer, Richard Stone, said his client's father had died not long before the incident and the offending was "out of character".