OneFour rapper Salec Sua faces jail over Mt Druitt pub fight
A member of the controversial rap group OneFour is facing up to 10 years behind bars over his role in a wild brawl at a Mt Druitt pub on State of Origin night.
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OneFour rapper Salec Sua was out enjoying a final taste of freedom watching the State of Origin with mates but what resulted was an all-in brawl between two rival Sydney gangs.
The mysterious musician with the controversial drill-style rap group had been due to be sentenced over a violent 2018 brawl in the pokies room of a Rooty Hill pub when he took part in the second wild melee last year.
The 27-year-old, known by his stage name ‘Lekks14’, faced Parramatta District Court on Friday, after pleading guilty to affray over the gang-related fight at the Mt Druitt Village Hotel on the night of July 10.
His defence told the court the State of Origin gathering was Sua’s last hurrah, despite being in breach of his bail curfew, before he was jailed for up to four and a half years over the vicious 2018 attack.
Tikoa Lene, 21, an associate of rival gang Inner West, also faced court on Friday, admitting to taking part in the brawl while being armed with a hammer.
Lene has also pleaded guilty to affray and participating in a criminal group.
The chaos erupted after members of both gangs were involved in a scuffle earlier that day at Guildford train station, with Lene and others meeting up at the Guildford Hotel that night before travelling in a convoy out to Mt Druitt in search of revenge.
The court heard Lene, a talented rugby league player and young father, was one of the main instigators of the fight and drove his cousin, Mal Seve, 22 – who is currently serving jail time over the incident – out to the pub in his mother’s Tarago van.
CCTV footage showed Lene armed with a hammer, however there is no evidence it was used during the fight.
The defence for Sua said he had been at the pub “innocently watching the footy” when his group was “raided” by the rival gang, with the fight spilling out into the carpark in front of shocked onlookers.
Two brothers from the Inner West gang suffered serious stab wounds while Sua himself was hit by a car in the four minutes of mayhem.
“The Inner West side of the equation has about it a degree of planning, quite possibly planning that arose after the Guildford railway station incident and with some measure of retribution in mind,” Sua’s defence told the court.
“He was not present at Guildford railway station with the Greater West group at the time of the earlier kerfuffle.
“There is no suggestion he was armed with a weapon or involved in the stabbing.”
He added that Sua was only ‘ephemerally” involved in the brawl, as captured on CCTV footage, until the Inner West side started to retreat.
He said Sua had a promising future as a musician with “redeeming features” despite having been convicted of reckless grievous bodily harm in company over the earlier Rooty Hill brawl and a riot conviction in 2016.
Notwithstanding Sua’s extensive criminal history, his defence argued he was ready to turn his life around and focus on his music career.
“He is a man who by no means is all bad,” the defence said.
“The penny has finally dropped and he has done some soul searching in jail.
“The aggression rendered seems to be bound up with his binge drinking and depression that seems to have started when he was a little boy.”
The court heard Lene had once had a promising career in rugby league, playing juniors with St George Illawarra and the Manly Sea Eagles before his partner fell pregnant with their child in high school.
His defence argued that despite him being armed with the hammer, it was for self-defence only.
Lene was described as not a member of the Inner West gang but a “hanger-oner” who became linked to the gang through rugby league.
“He’s present when the serious fighting starts for a period of about a minute and then he’s back in the van and out the driveway when a group of men are seen hitting somebody on the ground,” his defence said.
“He’s turned his life back around and turned his attention back on his young family.”
In June, co-accused Mal Seve, 22, was jailed for two years, with a non-parole period of 12 months, after pleading guilty to affray and participating in a criminal group.
Rekindle Tautalaga, 23, was placed on a Community Corrections Order for two years after being convicted of the same charges and an additional offence of larceny.
Sua and Lene will be sentenced next week.