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Six Fijian British rugby playing soldiers charged after off-duty New York policeman is beaten up in bar brawl after making alleged racial slur

2/9/2013

6 Comments

 
  • The accused are from Fiji but are based in Edinburgh and were on an Army rugby tour of the US
  • One is accused of snatching officer's phone as he called for help
  • The group allegedly punched the man, knocked him to the ground, beat him and cut him with a knife
  • Men to appear before judge in Manhattan accused of third degree assault
  • The men had just played the NYPD as part of their rugby tour
Six British Army rugby players have been accused of beating up an off-duty New York policeman during a 4am bar brawl.

A court in Manhattan heard that the soldiers from the 1st Battalion of the Royal Regiment of Scotland allegedly punched the officer to the floor then carried on hitting him as his friend tried to stop them.

As the brawl carried on down the street, it left blood splattered along half a block until the officer pulled out a knife and slashed one of his attackers.

The men, who are all from Fiji but are based in Edinburgh, are part of an Army rugby team on a tour of the US East Coast.

They claimed that they lashed out when the policeman called one of them a ‘black b******’.

The court was told that when he identified himself as a policeman and ordered them to back off during the confrontation last Friday, they responded: ‘We don’t care. F*** the police.’

The soldiers – Private Iliakini Raderua, 30, Corporal Thomas Shute, 34, Private Felite Vunisarati, 34, Private Mosese Kuruala, 27, and Private Joeli Raduva, 34 – are accused of third degree assault.

Lance Corporal Iosefo Yavala,  33, is also accused of second degree robbery, a more serious offence, after he was allegedly found carrying the officer’s mobile phone which was taken during the brawl.

The soldiers, whose regimental motto is No One Provokes Me With Impunity, were due to play against a team from the New York Police Department on Wednesday, but they are now being held in the notorious Rikers Island prison after failing to post bail of $25,000 (just over £16,000)
 
In court they stood next to each other dressed in white T-shirts and shorts or trousers.

Prosecutor Emily Logue said that the row began at the Mercury Bar in Manhattan when Yavala ‘bumped into the victim and began yelling at him’.

The group then allegedly ‘surrounded’ the officer and Kuruala ‘punched him in the face, causing him to fall down’ and the others rained down blows as his friend tried to help him up.

When the rookie policeman then tried to call the emergency number 911 on his mobile phone, one of the group punched him in the head and Yavala allegedly took the phone.

The officer then pulled out a knife and Yavala was cut.  Robert Fisher, defending Kuruala, said that the policeman ‘escalated’ the situation.

Seema Iyer, defending five of the soldiers, asked that they be released as they are ‘upstanding members of the armed services in their country’ with no criminal records.

Picture
Assault charge: 34-year-old Private Felite Vunisarat is one of the soldiers who allegedly attacker the off-duty officer
Picture
Fight scene: British soldiers are alleged to have assaulted an off-duty New York police officer outside the Mercury Bar in Manhattan
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Regimental pride: The cap badge of the 1st Battalion of the Royal Regiment of Scotland
It was revealed that Yavala has been in the Army for 11 years, Shute is a 12-year veteran and Raduva has served 13 years and is a decorated war hero who was Mentioned in Dispatches in 2011.

All six men will appear before the court again next week. The captain of the rugby team, Captain Matt Stevens, said after the hearing that the rest of their tour was continuing.

A Ministry of Defence spokesman said: ‘All those who are found to fall short of the Army’s high standards will face disciplinary action, up to and including discharge.’


Source: The Daily Mail, London, 2 September 2013

6 Comments
Ratu Rahman
2/9/2013 03:19:18 am

This is what British soldiers are trained to do. In fact they kill -
so in that respect, they were quite restrained?

Reply
Knifeman
2/9/2013 04:23:11 am

Why was the off-duty rookie policeman carrying a knife on him - will he be also charged for being in possession of a dangerous weapon - for he pulled out a knife and slashed one of the army boys! Since they are black British soldiers, the US court will show them no mercy and Rikers Prison is a hell-hole - one of the most notorious in the US. having said that, there was no need to have taken to the fist - it seems buturaki culture has stuck to them like super glue even when having spent so many years abroad. Isa Lei!

Reply
buturaki
2/9/2013 03:50:14 pm

When on his feet, the Fijian is always armed; when working in his garden, or lying
on his mat, his arms are always at hand. This, however, is not to be attributed to his
bold or choleric temper, but to suspicion and dread. Fear arms the Fijian. His own
heart tells him that no one could trust him and be safe, whence he infers that his
own security consists in universal mistrust of others. (Williams 1858: 43)

Reply
oilei na boolah!
2/9/2013 09:46:17 pm

If ignoring the bigot wasn't possible, would a nice, well-timed, backslap straight on his foul mouth suffice, instead of a "bully boys buturaki"?

Hmm... who knows, perhaps he was trying his luck on the boys and got rejected? Kailaa....

Reply
maro salee
3/9/2013 02:01:46 pm

The Indian dogs always bark in front of their house. Maro salee..

Reply
Cookie Monster
12/9/2013 06:39:45 am

6 Fijian soldiers against 1 person ... not a fair fight. It always amazes me how there is always a'racist' comment to justify a pack mentality.

Well you sow what you reap and I hope the lads have some vaseline with them ...

Reply



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