Victim tells of random attack at Milford Beach

A couple were surrounded by a group of young men, asked "have you ever seen a real gangster?" and then attacked with metal bars, a court heard yesterday.

Denis Khotchenko and Valeriya Nesterova were sitting together at Milford Beach when the Crown alleges they were attacked by Harlem Haynui Kirton, 19, Piri Valli Kirton, 18, Ruamoko Taiapa, 21, and Jono Paul Wilson, 20, during a night of violence on the North Shore on January 15, last year.

The four are accused of causing grievous bodily harm, wounding with intent, aggravated robbery and assault with intent to rob.

Taiapa's mother Kiriana Jan Taiapa is charged with being an accessory after the fact for allegedly hiding three metal bars used in the attacks.

Mr Khotchenko told the Auckland District Court he and Ms Nesterova were at the beach when a man approached his driver's side door and began a "random" conversation with him. The Crown alleges that man was Wilson.

Mr Khotchenko said his girlfriend was worried when they were asked, "have you ever seen a real gangster" and wanted to leave, so he got out of the car and checked his pockets for the keys.

He saw two other men had approached. Mr Khotchenko found the key and went to put it in the ignition but was struck in the head.

"It was a sequence of hits, probably four or five aiming in the head area." He said the man who was hitting him was the first who approached him with the gangster comment. Then a second man started hitting him.

"Everyone was screaming and it was blurry ... It was bang, bang, bang as fast as he could."

Some of the blows hit him in the shoulder as he slumped on the central console.

"It was chaotic and it all went into slow motion. I got out of the vehicle and everything was spinning, I couldn't see properly. My head was bursting with blood and my [finger] nail was off."

His attackers demanded cash but he didn't have any. He blacked out and when he came too, the attackers and Ms Nesterova were gone.

"That was the scariest moment of the night.

"They were gone, Valeriya was gone and there was blood all over the place."

Under cross-examination, Mr Khotchenko said he had only "a few sips" of beer and was sure the first attacker was the one who initially spoke to him. The second "sequence" of hits were from someone else but he did not see who that person was.

Prosecutor Sarah Mandeno said the accused were "cruising the streets of the North Shore, looking for trouble".

She said two hours after the Milford attack the four men struck again, attacking Oskar Carroll and Ericka Rancourt as they walked home.

She said the next day Harlem Kirton was involved in an unprovoked attack on a man on Takapuna Beach.