Karewera Rerekura: man accused of Summernats assault bailed

Court documents reveal an alleged assault at Summernats was caused by a disagreement over seats.

A motoring enthusiast who allegedly assaulted another man at Summernats then told a woman taking photos of him during the altercation he would “bash in your skull”, a court has heard.

Gosford man Karewera Te Kaitahi Mangu Rerekura, 27, was granted bail on Thursday by Magistrate James Lawton at the ACT Magistrates Court.

Mr Rerekura previously pleaded not guilty to recklessly inflicting grievous bodily harm in the incident at the popular revhead festival.

Previously the court has heard Mr Rerekura was the sole breadwinner for his young family, including his four children and pregnant partner, and that he had ongoing court issues in NSW.

His lawyer Ana Qvist told the court the delays to Mr Rerekura’s matters in NSW were due to Covid-19, not the actions of her client.

She said during his time already spent in jail her client was “trying to demonstrate a willingness to rehabilitate” and described his criminal history as reflective of hardship during his upbringing.

A rev head who allegedly assaulted a man at Summernats has been granted bail. Pictured: a car doing a burnout at Summernats. Picture by Damian Shaw

According to the statement of facts tendered in court the alleged assault was sparked over seat availability at the burnout qualifying masters show on January 8.

The alleged victim, his girlfriend and a male friend were offered empty seats by an unnamed person.

However a man who was in the same group as Mr Rerekura got into the seat that was offered to the alleged victim.

The alleged victim said “mate, those people just offered us those seats”.

The man and his associates allegedly yelled at the victim and said “sit down you ranga b***h”, “sit down you fat c**t” and “stop being idiots we know you can f**king hear us”.

After the alleged victim sat down in his chair Mr Rerekura allegedly confronted him, first by tugging his shirt from the back.

At this point it is alleged the victim made eye contact with Mr Rerekura and continued to watch the burnouts until Mr Rerekura grabbed his shoulder and turned the victim towards him.

Mr Rerekura then allegedly used his right hand to punch the man in the left side of the jaw.

The alleged victim was transported to Canberra Hospital where he underwent a CT Scan which identified two fractures in his jaw and a dislodged tooth which required surgery.

Court documents allege that following the incident Mr Rerekura noticed the girlfriend of the alleged victim taking photos of him.

Mr Rerekura allegedly confronted the woman by pulling out his phone, appearing to take photos of her, and said words to the effect of “I can take photos of you too”, “I will bash your skull in like I did to your friend” and “I don’t care that you’re a woman”.

Mr Rerekura will appear again at the ACT Magistrates Court for a pre-hearing mention on May 23.