Wild brawl at Mindil Beach Markets sparks police investigation

VIDEO: Scenes from a wild brawl at a popular Darwin market have emerged as a critically injured man’s condition improves.

A man who collapsed outside a popular Darwin market after allegedly being bashed within an inch of his life has started to recover.

An NT Police spokesman said no arrests had been made by Monday, four days after the alleged brawl at the Mindil Beach night markets.

A 43-year-old was left in a critical condition, while several others were injured following the incident.

Shaky video footage shared on social media shows a group of about five people scrapping in an open area near the markets.

In the footage, one person is pinned to the ground by a woman as she yells: “I wanna kill her. I’m killing this c***”.

Another woman appears to try and remove her from her victim, but before she can, a man walks up and kicks her in the face.

“She’s choking her, she’s f***ing choking her, she can’t breathe,” a man is heard yelling.

The spokesman said the fight broke out near the casino end of Mindil Beach about 8.20pm, interrupting the third market night of the dry season.

Following the alleged brawl, the man collapsed at the bus stop on Gilruth Ave, and was taken to Royal Darwin Hospital in a critical condition.

On Monday an NT Health spokeswoman said the 43-year-old was in a stable condition.

Acting Police Commissioner Michael Murphy said investigators were working with a couple of victims to understand the brawl.

“It sounds like there was a bit of an altercation, and they were all involved in a melee,” Mr Murphy said.

“And then someone had a medical event and required some treatment at hospital.”

Man in critical condition after Mindil Market punch on

A man is clinging to life in a critical condition following an alleged night market brawl in Darwin.

NT Police have alleged the man, aged in his 40s, was injured during a wild brawl at the Mindil Beach markets on Thursday night, along with several other people.

Northern Watch Commander Richard Howie said the fight broke out near the casino end of Mindil Beach about 8.20pm, interrupting the third market night of the dry season.

Following the alleged brawl, the man collapsed at the bus stop on Gilruth Ave, and was taken to Royal Darwin Hospital in a critical condition.

Sergeant Howie said police believed the man’s injuries were sustained during the fracas.

NT Police are appealing for anyone with information or footage to come forward by calling 131 444 and quoting reference number 10336579.

“There were obviously a number of people in the area who were witnesses to what was going on in relation to this incident,” Sergeant Howie said.

He said NT Police were in the early stages of an investigation and were “trying to work out what happened”.

Sergeant Howie said no arrests had been made in relation to the incident.

He said the alleged brawl was one of several incidents throughout a “very busy night”.

“Most nights are like that, it’s just the way it is at the moment,” he said.

Man charged with New Year’s Eve sexual assault

A 44-year-old man has been charged after an alleged sexual assault incident in Darwin City late last year.

The incident is said to have occurred on New Year’s Eve in 2022.

The man was arrested by detectives from the Sex Crimes Unit along with the Territory Response Group in Berrimah on Wednesday.

He has been charged with sexual intercourse without consent.

Police say he will appear in Darwin Local Court on Thursday.

Two youths charged after Darwin ram-raid spree

Two youths have been charged in relation to a series of ram-raids and break-ins which saw more than $50,000 in damage to a business in Darwin’s CBD.

NT Police said the alleged offenders were part of a group which stole three cars from residences in Bayview and a further vehicle from a commercial property in Yarrawonga before unlawfully entering a cafe, two post offices and a restaurant and ram raiding a retail store and a bottle shop in the early hours of Monday morning.

The youths, aged 15 and 17, were charged with seven cases of damage to property, seven cases of theft, one case of aggravated burglary at a dwelling, seven cases of aggravated burglary at a building, four cases of driving motor vehicles without consent, one case of theft of mail receptacles and one case of tampering with mail receptacles.

They were remanded to appear in court on Tuesday.

Police said Strike Force Trident were continuing investigations into the incident with further arrests to be made.

NT Police Northern Watch Commander Scott Lewis said police received reports that multiple vehicles had been stolen after an alleged unlawful entry at a residential address in Bayview about 3am on Monday.

He said a short time after that the vehicles were observed in the Darwin CBD, where a business address was then unlawfully entered.

A short time after that the same vehicles were allegedly involved in a ram-raid at a licensed premises on Knuckey St where a large amount of alcohol was allegedly removed.

The Dress Code on Knuckey St was a victim of one of the alleged ram-raids.

He said a short time after that police received reports of another ram-raid at a business address, also on Knuckey St, where one of the vehicles had allegedly caused a “substantial” amount of damage to the shopfront.

“That damage appears to be very, very significant at this point,” he said.

“They didn’t enter that store due to a motorist passing by, it seemed to scare them off a bit, and they left the scene without entering the store, they didn’t leave the vehicle.”

He said a short time after that the stolen vehicles were observed by police in the Palmerston area.

He said the vehicles then split up, with officers pursuing the vehicle identified as allegedly being involved in the ram-raids.

He said the pursuit continued for a short period before the alleged offenders stopped the vehicle and fled into a Palmerston suburb.

Police then established a cordon, and with the assistance of the dog squad, two of the alleged offenders were located and arrested at a residential address.

He said the arrests happened about 40 minutes after the stolen vehicle reports were received at 3am.

“It was a good response really, but obviously a lot of damage being done,” he said.

“So all of those matters are still under investigation, there’s still offenders outstanding.

“At this stage we’re still receiving reports of further unlawful entries in the Coolalinga area which appear to be related.”

NT Police Commander Daniel Bacon reassured the community that NT Police were proactively patrolling and were committed to preventing unlawful and unacceptable behaviour in the community.

“This was exceptional work undertaken by members of the Northern Territory Police Force who co-ordinated an appropriate response which resulted in two offenders being apprehended very quickly,” he said.

“It is critical if you see something, report it. It may just be the critical bit of information needed by police to resolve matters quickly. Timely information is important for police to proactively engage to prevent crime or anti-social behaviour escalating.”

Man critical after falling from Darwin balcony

A 50-year-old man is in hospital after falling from a second-storey balcony in Larrakeyah.

Police said a witness heard a disturbance and reported the fall shortly before 4am Sunday.

Emergency services including a St John critical response unit arrived at the Marina Boulevard address where the man was treated for serious head injuries.

He was transported to Royal Darwin Hospital.

Northern Watch Commander Greg Lamb said investigations were ongoing.

An NT Health spokeswoman said the man remained in a critical but stable condition in hospital.

Police also arrested two people in separate incidents on Saturday for weapon-related offences.

A man was arrested after he allegedly threatened public housing officers with a knife.

Commander Lamb said the man produced the knife after the officers arrived at his Karama address to serve paperwork, shortly before 9pm.

A family member then disarmed the man before police arrived and arrested him.

He was charged with assaulting a worker and making a threat to kill.

Earlier on Saturday, Casuarina security officers approached a group of youths before one produced a large knife.

He allegedly made threatening gestures towards the security officers which was captured on CCTV.

After receiving a report police attended a known address and arrested the youth with several offences, including armed with an offensive weapon.

Originally published as Wild brawl at Mindil Beach Markets sparks police investigation