Samurai sword brandished in ugly skate park incident

File photo / APN

A samurai sword was brandished in an ugly confrontation between youths at a Timaru skate park, a court was told today.

Robert Leslie McDonald, 21, pleaded guilty to charges of assault, disorderly behaviour likely to cause violence to start, theft from a car, and possession of equipment for using cannabis when he appeared in Christchurch District Court .

Police prosecutor Bronwen Skea said McDonald, who had been drinking, and his brothers were driving past the Caroline Bay skate park in October last year when someone in the car made an offensive gesture to the local youths at the park.

McDonald then got out of the car with a steel pipe, and one of his brothers got out with an ornamental samurai sword and chased the teenagers who scattered in fear.

McDonald caught one youth who was trying to ride away on his cycle and hit him in the lower back with the pipe while he was riding.

McDonald then took an Ipod and MP3 player from an unoccupied car and the items had not been found.

Police stopped the car in Evans Street and a search located the sword, steel pipe, and two utensils used to smoke cannabis.

McDonald said he had been "looking out for his younger brother".

Judge Raoul Neave remanded him to April 5 for a pre-sentence report to assess his suitability for home and community detention, and a reparation report regarding the stolen items.

- NZPA