Card-game fracas has court sequel

Cherie Taylor | 18th February 2010

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A game of cards in a Rotorua motel turned into a fight between two Chinese tour drivers and resulted in the pair being hospitalised - and charged with assault.

One of the 28-year-old Auckland-based tour drivers, Gang Miao, has been referred for police diversion after pleading guilty, before Judge James Weir in the Rotorua District Court yesterday, to assault.

If an offender is granted diversion after a guilty plea, he or she is then discharged by the court without conviction. The incident does not show on their criminal records if they reappear in court at a later date.

Diversion is offered only to first-time offenders who admit the charges they face.

Miao will be sentenced on March 31.

The Daily Post reported the incident last month when a second-storey unit at Rotorua's Kerry Motel, on Malfroy Rd, was cordoned off.

Blood stains were visible on the unit's outside wall at the time.

While one of the men involved in the fight was discharged from hospital a short time after being taken there, Miao was in the critical care unit for two days as a result of a head injury which required stitches.

The police summary says Miao and five work colleagues were playing cards and drinking wine about 1am on January 13 at the motel when an argument erupted between Miao and another man who was "unhappy" about the way Miao was playing the game.

The man pushed Miao with an open palm.

Losing his balance, Miao grabbed the other man by the shoulder and they both began wrestling, falling to the ground as their friends tried to break them up.

During the struggle, a glass-top dining table was knocked to the ground, breaking several wine glasses on the floor.