Bat alleged in savage beating

A sign points to the street where a Whangarei teenager was allegedly attacked with a baseball bat on Saturday.John Stone
A teenager is in Auckland Hospital with serious head injuries after he was allegedly beaten with a baseball bat in the Whangarei suburb of Raumanga.
Police say the 17-year-old Whangarei victim was set upon by a large group of people. "He was beaten, kicked and hit with a baseball bat," Detective Shane Mawston said. "It probably would have been a lot more serious if people, bystanders and friends of the victim had not intervened."
The attack happened in Mahana Pl. at about 3.30am on Saturday. The attackers are believed to have come from a party in nearby Raumanga Valley Rd.
When police arrived the attacked teenager was lying in a pool of blood in the gutter and a large crowd of people was at the scene. "We are still looking at other people that may have been involved and ask witnesses to contact the police," Mr Mawston said.
He would not comment on what had led to the incident but said the victim was making a good recovery.
Three Whangarei males, aged 15, 16 and 18, have been charged with wounding with intent to cause grievous bodily harm in relation to the attack.
The assault took place not far from where Richard Harcombe, 18, was beaten by three teenagers in Tarewa Rd on September 7, 2002, and died later in hospital.
Whangarei Mayor Pamela Peters said she had not been fully briefed on the matter and did not know if it was an issue "of that particular area, the district or with the lives of those people involved".
However, the council would have to look at youth issues in light of the incident.
"I'm saddened and feel sorry for someone injured in such a fight and the family of this person."
She added that a hip-hop concert in the city last weekend drew around 16,000 young people, and there was "not one incident".
The attack follows several serious assaults in the city during the past five months.
Last December 9 a 20-year-old man had to undergo jaw surgery after he was attacked from behind while walking home along Water St. That attack followed serious assaults on three men in Whangarei - one on November 21 and two on November 27. All were attacked by teenagers.
In the first incident, a man's jaw was broken when he was stomped on and kicked in Vine St.
On November 27, two men were attacked in separate incidents in Bank and Vine Sts.
The man attacked in Vine St sustained a broken jaw, head bruising and concussion.
Mr Mawston said the severity of the recent assaults in the city was alarming. "The number of these attacks seems to have escalated as well as the severity.
"Alarmingly vicious and frequent are good words to use," he said.