Post by dibo (pron. "DIB-OH") on Apr 18, 2006 9:46:19 GMT 10
From the SMH
Blinded in beach violence
By Justin Norrie
April 18, 2006
GANG violence has again cast a shadow over the state's beaches with a mob attack that has left an 18-year-old blind in one eye.
Wycliff Manapori, from Tregear, was on a fishing trip to Woy Woy with 10 friends on Good Friday when he was attacked by youths wielding sticks, shovels and bats, he said yesterday. From his bed at Westmead Hospital, Mr Manapori told the Herald a local smashed him in the face with a bat because he was from Sydney. He said up to 60 people attacked him and his friends at Umina Beach.
"At about 8pm we were playing touch [football] on the beach, the locals started coming down and asking us where we were from. We said Mount Druitt and Penrith, so they started swearing at us and huddling together," he said.
"A bit later, about 10.30pm, we were in the car park singing and dancing when one of them threw a beer bottle and it missed. I told my boys not to worry, but [the locals] started saying 'Let's get these f---ing people from Penrith.'
"We told them we didn't want any trouble. We tried to get in our cars to leave but they wouldn't let us. One of them smashed my mate's windscreen." A man pulled a shovel from his ute and chased a friend of Mr Manapori, he said. "I went to help and someone came from the side and smashed a wooden bat into my face."
He said his friends called Triple-0 four times before they were taken seriously. He has a 50/50 chance of losing the sight in his left eye as well. Doctors will operate when his swelling goes down in a few days.
A 19-year-old Woy Woy man was charged yesterday with maliciously inflicting grievous bodily harm, carrying an offensive implement and affray.
By Justin Norrie
April 18, 2006
GANG violence has again cast a shadow over the state's beaches with a mob attack that has left an 18-year-old blind in one eye.
Wycliff Manapori, from Tregear, was on a fishing trip to Woy Woy with 10 friends on Good Friday when he was attacked by youths wielding sticks, shovels and bats, he said yesterday. From his bed at Westmead Hospital, Mr Manapori told the Herald a local smashed him in the face with a bat because he was from Sydney. He said up to 60 people attacked him and his friends at Umina Beach.
"At about 8pm we were playing touch [football] on the beach, the locals started coming down and asking us where we were from. We said Mount Druitt and Penrith, so they started swearing at us and huddling together," he said.
"A bit later, about 10.30pm, we were in the car park singing and dancing when one of them threw a beer bottle and it missed. I told my boys not to worry, but [the locals] started saying 'Let's get these f---ing people from Penrith.'
"We told them we didn't want any trouble. We tried to get in our cars to leave but they wouldn't let us. One of them smashed my mate's windscreen." A man pulled a shovel from his ute and chased a friend of Mr Manapori, he said. "I went to help and someone came from the side and smashed a wooden bat into my face."
He said his friends called Triple-0 four times before they were taken seriously. He has a 50/50 chance of losing the sight in his left eye as well. Doctors will operate when his swelling goes down in a few days.
A 19-year-old Woy Woy man was charged yesterday with maliciously inflicting grievous bodily harm, carrying an offensive implement and affray.
