Teen jailed for brutal street assault

A Hastings teen has been jailed for almost four years for a brutal street assault where he stomped and kicked a man 20 times in the head.

The incident happened early on November 20 outside a Hastings supermarket.

Vaelvaga Mafaufau, 15, was with five friends at 3am when they decided they wanted cigarettes, Hastings District Court was told yesterday.

As they sat and waited, two men approached from the central city, walking home after a night out drinking.

Three of the group, including Mafaufau, approached the men and first asked, then demanded, cigarettes.

One of the men swore and told the youths to get out of the way, before being punched by two of Mafaufau's associates.

As he lay on the ground, he was kicked in the head. The man's friend tried to help, but was punched by another one of the youngsters.

He fell to the ground and was dragged into the middle of a roundabout by Mafaufau, who kicked and stomped on his head about 20 times before being pulled away by one of his friends, a witness said.

Both men were hospitalised and are yet to fully recover from the beatings, with one still unable to work.

Mafaufau, now 16, pleaded guilty at earlier court appearances to charges of wounding with intent to cause grievous bodily harm and injuring with intent to injure. He was sentenced to three years and nine months in prison.

Mafaufau's counsel Tony Morgan said Mafaufau had an unsettled family upbringing, with suggestions of violence, and had a lack of formal education.

Judge Geoff Rea said he did not understand why Mafaufau launched such a brutal assault.

"You kicked him and stomped him repeatedly to the head -- why you did that is beyond comprehension to me," he said.

Judge Rea said he would not have been surprised if Mafaufau had killed the other man.

The assault victim was no longer the same energetic person he once was, instead facing a "bleak future" and suffering emotionally, mentally and physically.

Mafaufau's co-accused, who cannot be named, was to appear in court again on July 27.

- HAWKE'S BAY TODAY