New Zealand / Regional

Charges over Ashburton police attack

11:53 am on 4 February 2015

Four men have been charged in Ashburton in relation to an assault that left a police dog-handler requiring stitches to his face.

Police said the dog handler was brought in to break up a crowd that had gathered in the centre of Ashburton in the early hours of Sunday morning, in what they were calling alcohol-fuelled disorder.

Three men, aged in their twenties, have been charged with the aggravated assault of a police officer, and a 19-year-old has been charged with assaulting a member of the public.

Senior Sergeant Scott Banfield said further charges may yet be laid.

The four men will appear in the Ashburton District Court on 23 February.