A 16-year-old charged in relation to the death of another teenager has pleaded guilty to a lesser charge.
The teenager, who has name suppression, was to go on trial on Monday charged with the manslaughter of 15-year-old Stephen Dudley at a school rugby practice last June.
Instead he pleaded guilty to assault at the High Court in Auckland, and will be sentenced in March.
His lawyer Ron Mansfield asked the court to consider community sentences. He also asked that the conviction not be entered, in order to keep all sentencing options open.
A 17-year old will stand trial for manslaughter in June.
His lawyer, John Munro, had asked to delay the trial for four to five months because of his other trial commitments but Justice Brewer said because of the ages of the accused and the victim, it was not in the interests of justice to do that.
