Footballers Tavite Vatuvei and Marvin Filipo admit bag snatch on Newcastle night out

TWO up-and-coming footballers thought they were avenging the assault of an innocent man when they confronted two women and snatched their handbags, Newcastle Local Court heard yesterday.Tavite Vatuvei, who plays for the Newtown Jets in the NSW Cup, and Marvin Filipo, who represented Newcastle last weekend at regional rugby league championships, pleaded guilty to stealing from the young women during a night out in Newcastle on September 18 last year.Magistrate Sharon Holdsworth described the circumstances of their offences as bizarre and acknowledged both men would have difficulty obtaining visas to play rugby league overseas.Vatuvei toured England last year with the Australian Fijian rugby league team.The saga began when a man and two women bought a kebab at a Hunter Street kebab shop, a statement of evidence said.The man and a kebab shop employee pushed and shoved each other when the man took exception to advances the employee made towards the women.The employee got a knife and cut the man's wrist.The man punched the employee in the face and the worker fell to the ground.Filipo, 22, and Vatuvei, 21, drove by at that moment.They stopped and were told the kebab shop employee had been assaulted. They drove to the two women and the man who were walking along Hunter Street.The man ran off so Vatuvei smacked a handbag out of one of the women's hands.Either Filipo or Vatuvei yelled: "If we can't get you, we'll get your girls."Filipo and Vatuvei snatched each of the women's handbags and left.Vatuvei pushed one of the women into a pole, causing her to fall.When detectives confronted Filipo and Vatuvei the next day they confessed to stealing the handbags because they thought they were seeking retribution on behalf of the kebab shop employee.Ms Holdsworth ordered both men, who now live in Sydney, to do 300 hours of community service.Vatuvei was put on a 12-month bond for assault.