Four more people including two men from Young and another from Wombat, have been charged with affray following a brawl at Cootamundra Ex-Services on January 12.
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Riverina Police Superintendent Bob Noble made the announcement on Monday morning at Cootamundra, adding that it was extremely lucky that no one was very seriously injured or even killed.
Charges have been laid against an 18-year-old and 19-year-old from Young, a 27-year-old from Wombat and a 32-year-old from Cootamundra.
In total, six people have been charged with affray and bailed to appear at Cootamundra Local Court on April 1.
One man from Wagga and one from Junee were charged last week.
Superintendent Noble said it’s likely “several more people” will be charged and it’s possible that other offences are laid as more information comes to hand.
“I suspect there are at least several more people who will be charged and I can’t rule out other offences being proceeded against too as we draw more information out,” he said.
He described affray as a very serious matter carrying a lengthy jail term on conviction.
He said if people wanted to carry on in an unruly manner they would face consequences.
“The people of Cootamundra can take some heart from the fact that there’s only one person from the town and it’s been mostly visitors from out of town, but if people want to act violently without regard for their safety of others it won’t be tolerated,” he said.
Police understand alcohol was involved in the incident and there may have been some on-field rivalry spilling out off the field, following an earlier touch football carnival, but it’s not clear at this stage what had sparked the brawl.
“It’s often the case that the people involved don’t even know,” Mr Noble said.
Police have processed a massive amount of information including eyewitness accounts, CCTV and footage that had been forwarded by the public and the media.
“We think there are probably other people out there that have footage on their phones and we would urge them to bring it to us, it will be treated confidentially,” Mr Noble said.
