Two men charged over pre-brawl assault

MELBOURNE (AAP) - Two Melbourne men charged over an assault which sparked a brawl of up to 100 people have been held in custody to face court on Friday.
Deyon Machok, 20, from St Albans and James Makur, 21, from Keilor Downs have been charged with 11 counts each relating to the assault of two men in Melbourne's West early on Tuesday.
The assaults preceded a mass brawl which saw one police officer hit in the face with a bottle and another punched in the back of the head.
Police were forced to call in back-up and use capsicum spray to control the crowd.
The brawl, in Braybrook, was the third group fight in Melbourne within three days believed to be linked to an African beauty pageant.
Three men were hospitalised with cuts and bruises after a fight between a group of Sudanese men in a carpark at an East Ringwood hotel on Tuesday night.
Police are investigating if the incidents are linked with a machete attack on a man at a Clayton party on Sunday night following the Miss South Sudan Australia beauty pageant.
Machok and Makur were remanded in custody after an out of sessions hearing in Melbourne on Thursday night and will appear in Melbourne Magistrates' Court on Friday.