Red T-shirt earns teen a beating

The teen's jaw was broken. Photo / Warren Buckland

A teenager needed two rows of stitches and a steel plate to repair his shattered jaw after being beaten over the colour of his T-shirt.

Police say the 16-year-old and a friend were confronted last weekend by three men as they walked to the friend's house in a Hastings area considered to be Black Power gang turf.

Two of the men took exception to the teenager wearing a red shirt and asked him to remove the red singlet he had on underneath. Red is associated with Mongrel Mob rival Black Power.

"My friend stepped forward and said 'why?' He then got hit and went down," said the 16-year-old, who asked not to be named for fear of reprisals.

The 16-year-old was then punched in the face once by one attacker and twice by another, shattering his jaw.

The attackers ran off and their victims fled to the safety of a friend's house.

The 16-year-old was assessed at Hawke's Bay Hospital then flown to Wellington Hospital for surgery.

He will be unable to chew for six weeks, finds it "really, really sore" to talk and has had to take two weeks off from his labouring job.

Despite his pain the Jehovah's Witness will spend the weekend knocking on doors trying to explain his faith.

Anyone with information about the attack should call police on 0800 567 789.