The day after Mr Cottrell died local newspaper, The Dominion Post,  whose offices are feet away from where Mr Cottrell was found, decided to take the bull by the horns and published data that proved that violence and serious assaults had increased by over 40% in the last year:

“Monthly police statistics show an increase of serious assaults resulting in injury, in either public or private places,  rose from 23 in October 2010 to 33 in October this year (2011)

The monthly reports also show an increase of public place assaults from 62 to 65 in the same time period…”

The report then went on to details other street attacks that had taken place over that weekend and quoted Acting Commander Detective Inspector Steve Vaughan saying the weekend attacks were “terrible and nasty“.

We suggested that showed that the city was anything but safe. Three days after Mr Cottrell was assaulted a woman was attacked in Newtown Avenue just 4 kms away, but news about the attack was withheld until almost two weeks later when police appealed for witnesses.

Now a local man has decided to do something to counter the threat on Wellington’s streets after his 50 year old wife was attacked by a “group” of youths in the city (the word group is often used as a euphemism for gang in New Zealand) Fortunately his wife has a second degree black belt in Karate and able to defend herself, but not everyone is so well prepared so Mr Jennings is offering to train people in self defence.

Reported on by the Dom Post:

“A Johnsonville karate master is offering a self-defence course for ”potential victims” after his wife was attacked by a group of youths in Wellington.

Kyokushin karate instructor, Peter Jennings – a fifth dan Shihan master – said he had become increasingly concerned with the level of serious assaults and other unprovoked attacks in central Wellington and the city’s suburbs.

Highly commendable, Mr Jennings may be doing more for safety on the streets than the law enforcement agencies who seem to prefer to create an illusion of safety. What better way to discourage muggings than to create a self aware populace who are prepared and able to defend themselves against street thugs?

“The risks for innocent people walking the Wellington streets at night “hit home” when a group of youths tried to mug his wife – a 50-year-old bank manager and second degree black-belt – in the CBD last year.

Mr Jennings said his wife was given a black eye in the attack, but was otherwise unharmed, while her assailants – one with a suspected broken jaw – fled empty-handed.

“I hate to consider what may have been the result if she had not known how to effectively respond to the situation.”

The course is open to those of high school age and older but applicants will be vetted.” more here

Two youths aged 17 and 19 were eventually arrested and charged in connection with the death of Mr Cottrell. Read Phillip Cottrell teens arrested at gunpoint .

Other recent Wellington Assault News Reports

19 January:  “The man charged with an assault in Wellington that left a Kapiti man on life support has been remanded until March for forensic tests to be completed.”

Dr McGregor calls for a Task-force on Action on Sexual Violence to be set-up in New Zealand and cites some horrendous child abuse figures.

Far from being a great place to raise kids, the high level of sexual violence in New Zealand impacts 1 in 4 girls and 1 in 8 boys under the age of 16 years. For more about the significant problems of raising children in New Zealand please see our Education and Childrens Issues facts page.

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“Dear Prime Minister,

To most New Zealanders the brutal sexual assault of the sleeping 5 year old girl in Turangi just before Christmas was a shocking and shameful incident.

Prime Minister, I really hope that this incident will provide the catalyst needed for your government to begin to implement the Taskforce for Action on Sexual Violence (TASV) report recommendations given to your government in July 2009.

When referring to the taskforce report, the previous Minister of Justice, Simon Power, stated that, our sector represented by Te Ohaakii a Hine National Network Ending Sexual Violence Together (TOAH NNEST), “as a part of the Taskforce for Action on Sexual Violence, is responsible for the most comprehensive roadmap on sexual violence prevention and services that any Government has ever received”. He also said “and now what you need is an assurance that the Government not only backs your work, but is prepared to pay for it”. (Speech April 2010)

As you will be aware, few of the taskforce recommendations have been implemented and rather than your government resourcing our specialist services, our sector’s capacity to prevent and deal with the high levels of sexual violence in our country has been diminished in the last two years – especially since the withdrawal of $6 million per annum of counselling support (from $10.6 million in 2007/2008 to $4.5 million in 2010/2011 see OIA attached).

Prime Minister, as you will be aware, every community in New Zealand has people who perpetrate sexually harmful behaviours as well as people who have experienced sexual violence. You will also know that such sexual violence is preventable.

Lessons need to be learned from the appalling incident in Turangi, so that we as a nation can join together to protect other children from the sexual violence that currently impacts approximately 1 in 4 girls and 1 in 8 boys under the age of 16 years in this country.

Although rarely by a stranger, every year a few of these thousands of children throughout the country will experience one-off brutal incidents similar to the one reported in Turangi. Others will experience regular sexual violations that may be repeated over months or even years. What vary are the victims’ ages and the relationship of the offender to the child.

While most on-going experiences of sexual violence are less outwardly brutal, they are still likely to be traumatic and have long-term negative health and social impacts.

Without intervention and specialist support, child sexual violence is potentially life-threatening. Common on-going effects of child sexual violence can include a lifetime of anxiety, and serious depressions that can develop into harmful behaviours towards the self and/or others.

Mostly there are no witnesses to child sexual violence that happens every day in our country – usually behind closed doors within the child’s home or community.

Commonly the child is prevented from speaking of the crime for a variety of reasons including that the child is groomed to feel they are to blame, is threatened, or, the sex offender is someone close to the child or is a valued member of the child’s community.

If child-victims do ever speak about sexual violence, often it is not until they are adults. This is sometimes when they first look for counselling help.

Many of those who commit sexually harmful behaviours begin with concerning sexualised behaviours in childhood. While some of these behaviours will stop in childhood, without early detection and intervention, by teenage years or early twenties, some of these behaviours may have escalated and become entrenched, impacting many child and/or adult victims – sometimes over many years. A few offenders will also commit brutal attacks similar to the assault committed in Turangi.

Prime Minister, what is required to prevent sexual violence is the increased resourcing that Minister Power referred to and also leadership that extends beyond elections and the term of a single Minister. To keep our children safe, our communities need a government and a specialist sector joined together in a determined effort and sustained over many years.

Please help us by providing the leadership necessary to establish an on-going forum or process so that government Ministers and relevant Ministries can continue to work with our specialist TOAH NNEST sector to make children in this country safe from sexual violence.

There are some simple and achievable actions your government can take immediately. These recommendations were given to your government in the Taskforce for Action on Sexual Violence report in July 2009 (see the Ministry of Justice website). Key actions include, please:

reinstate the Taskforce for Action on Sexual Violence that for the first time ever in our country provided leadership through a joint government partnership with specialist Maori and Tauiwi sector representatives.

Two years of the Taskforce (2007-2009) was not enough. We had only just begun the huge amount of work required to make our communities safe from sexual violence;

approve and resource the first ever National Sexual Violence Prevention Plan that was developed over the two years of the Taskforce for Action on Sexual Violence.

It is unclear why the National Sexual Violence Prevention Plan was scrapped before it was to be approved by Cabinet in 2010. This Plan would have been the first of its kind in New Zealand and would have helped us catch-up to many other countries whose governments have taken an active leadership role in sexual violence prevention; and

provide realistic and sustained funding to our poorly resourced TOAH NNEST specialist sexual violence prevention and intervention frontline services that include early intervention programmes for children with concerning sexualised behaviour.

Our early intervention programmes offer the best hope of identifying early, children who are at risk of later sexual offending, and intervening to prevent this occurring. There are hundreds of children and youths and their families throughout the country who want and need our early interventions that will help to stop further sexual violations. While we have excellent specialist community treatment services throughout the country, these services are currently insufficiently resourced to help increase the safety in all of our communities.

Our TOAH NNEST support services aim to provide every area in New Zealand with specialist child, youth and adult, forensic, medical and psychological early intervention support services, on-going phone and face-to-face individual, and family counselling, criminal justice support services and, where possible, specialist family reintegration and restorative justice services.

Summary

Sexual violence against children in New Zealand happens on a daily basis and affects approximately 1 in 4 girls and 1 in 8 boys under the age of 16 years.

Sexual violence is preventable.

To avoid further sexual attacks on our children I implore you to:

implement the recommendations in the Taskforce for Action on Sexual Violence report

reinstate the Taskforce for Action on Sexual Violence

approve and resource the drafted National Sexual Violence Prevention Plan.”

replace the $6 million saved from cuts to our services, and

provide our services with realistic and sustainable funding so that we can provide New Zealanders with the specialist services they need to work to prevent and deal with the huge levels of sexual violence that every community in the country deals with every day.

Sexual violence is a complex social issue. It is hugely costly to survivors of sexual violence, their families, and communities, and the taxpayer. It is by far the most costly crime per incident. Treasury estimated that sexual violence directly cost the economy $1.2 billion in 2003-2004, and the cost now could be as high as $7.5 billion per year.

Our frontline services aim to provide those affected by sexual violence with vital, and often life-saving, early and on-going support, for the years that it often takes to deal with the trauma that follows.

Every community should have access to our wrap-around specialist sexual violence support services including our prevention, early intervention, on-going counselling and court support services, specifically tailored to meet the needs of children, youth, adults and their families.

Hawaiian couple, artists and free thinkers, Felizia Graye and ‘Professor’ Shenandoah Forest were enjoying a quiet day at the beach when, according to the Herald a horror attack left them completely “freaked out”

Ms Graye said the drama unfolded after children on a quad bike began circling where they were sitting at Kennedy Bay, about 15km northeast of Coromandel. As the bike got closer they waved at them to stop, and after she threatened to call police the children went away. But a short time later “a very upset man” arrived.

“He appeared to be really angry about us talking to the kids and started screaming at us and said ‘they are just having fun’.”

The couple left the beach in their camper van but when they stopped a while later they realised that the man had been following them. He approached their vehicle carrying a metal bar. Ms Gaye told the Herald

“He kept screaming and screaming, he was just in this rage and he started bashing up all the windows. I kept telling Shenandoah to try and start the van up. By the time he got the van started there was glass all over us.”

Their van had all its windows smashed, several panels dented, and the rear view mirrors knocked off…” more here

Fortunately the couple were taken care of by some kind hearted locals but it would’ve been good if the attack hadn’t happened in the first place and if motor vehicles were banned or restricted at popular beaches.

Beach race tracks

Perhaps they were unaware that it is quite common for NZ’s beaches to be used by recreational vehicles and that riders and pedestrians do come into contact, sometimes with undesirable outcomes. The couple were very lucky to have escaped without serious injury.

If you’re planning a holiday to New Zealand please take care on the beach as you’ll probably be sharing the sand with a variety of motor vehicles.

13 year old Daisy Fernandez was killed and her friend Claudia Billinge seriously injured by a 15 year old trail bike rider, as they lay in the dunes on Ripiro Beach at Glinks Gully,  southwest of Dargaville, where speeding was a problem. People at the beach had spoken to the youth and asked him to slow down but their pleas went unheeded. Complaints about speeding had also been made to the police earlier on the day of the accident.

Claudia recovered from her injuries and went on to make it to the top 33 contestants in the TV show New Zealand’s Next Top Model.

There have also been numerous accidents where vehicle drivers have been killed or seriously injured on tourist beaches. 21-year-old quad bike rider suffered serious spinal injuries after falling from his vehicle on sand dunes at Muriwai Beach, north-west of Auckland. The incident came despite the Auckland Regional Council’s promise to crack-down on vehicle safety at the beach over a labour weekend following both deaths and injuries to both drivers and other beach users.

We wish Felizia and Shenandoah all the best for the rest of their stay in New Zealand.

We’re relieved to hear that a suspect has been arrested in relation to the savage beating and rape of woman in Mount Roskill.

The 27 year woman old was attacked as she walked home from work through the grounds of Mount Roskill Intermediate school on the afternoon of  17 January 2012 . Her husband went to look for her and found her semi-conscious and badly injured She was left traumatised by the attack and unable to speak, taking over a week to recover in hospital.

In the same area another woman had been approached earlier in the day by an aggressive male behaving in a threatening manner. She told her mother who lives overseas, who read about the rape on-line and then contacted New Zealand police.

Police say they have a 17 year old youth in custody, given his age we assume that he will not be afforded the privilege of name suppression. Initially he will appear in youth court because he was 16 when the woman was attacked, but we suspect the case will be moved to a higher court to deal with. According to the Herald

He will appear in Auckland Youth Court charged with assault with Intent to commit rape, aggravated wounding, unlawful sexual connection and rape.

At the time, Inspector Gary Allcock said her injuries were “serious” and counted it among the worst he had seen in 28 years of policing.

NZ’s out of control teens

The number of rapes and violent attacks perpetrated by teens in New Zealand is reaching worrying proportions, it was only a matter of weeks ago that a 16 year old raped and mutilated a 5 year old Belgian girl at a Turangi campsite. The two males charged with the death of reporter Phillip Cottrell were aged 17 and 19,  and the youth who battered Karen Aim to death was only 14.

Today two youths  aged 14 and 15 appeared in  Rotorua Youth Court charged with the assault of  elderly Polish man,  Roman Skorek,  whose body was found in Kuirau Park early on Tuesday morning. A 20 year old has been charged with murder.

Youth crime is becoming increasingly savage in New Zealand. As  the officers working on the Turangi rape case said: its time for NZ society to take a good look at itself.

Its also time for an in-depth review of the criminal justice system for youth offenders. Something patently isn’t working.

Mount Roskill Intermediate

The school is situated in south Auckland, use the street view above to locate the area within Auckland.

Mr Skorek suffered stab wounds to his face and body during the attack. He had recently arrived from Niue to Rotorua and had been staying at the  Crash Palace Backpackers hostel in Rotorua every summer for the last 5 years. He is believed to have no family in New Zealand but has a daughter who lives in the United States.

Our sincere condolences are extended to Mr Skorek’s family and friends.

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On the day that police said they were “confident” that the savage death of a 64 year old Polish man in Rotorua’s Kuirau Park yesterday morning wasn’t gang related (are gangs and their prospects supposed to leave business cards with their victims now and how can four perps not constitute a gang ?) we hear that a middle aged man was beaten up for wearing the wrong colour T shirt in Napier.

Two teenage youths from the small town of Napier, “Black Power” country,  have been charged for mugging a man who dared to wear a black and red T shirt on their turf just before Christmas.

The NZ Herald covered the story, saying

“The youths, aged 16 and 18, will appear in Napier District Court on charges of aggravated robbery and injuring with intent to injure.

Police said the 52-year-old victim had gone to the shops at Greenmeadows on December 23 when he was approached. One of the alleged attackers told him: “This is BP (Black Power) country” and said they were going to take his shirt off him. The shirt’s colours, black and red, are those of the rival Mongrel Mob gang.

The man refused to hand over his shirt and was attacked when he came out of the shop…” more here

The irony is that these two young thugs probably aren’t even Black Power members, but prospects. No doubt their membership chances will be much improved once they’ve served their sentence.

Surely there must be more fruitful and rewarding things for young men to do in Napier?

Kuirau Park Sex Attack

On Sunday evening a 15 year old girl was attacked by a man in the same park where the 60 year old man was found dead. Police think the attack may’ve been sexually motivated. According to a report in Stuff Kuirau Park has a reputation for sexual activity and a 13 year old girl was assaulted in a reserve in the suburb of Fordlands in late November.

Hot Pool Death

Our readers may remember eight year old Toromon Toromon, who was playing in council owned Kuirau Park park with family and friends late Dec 2010, when he accidentally fell into one of the thermal pools. Sadly the little boy died from his injuries in hospital. For more read Hot Pool Fencing and Signage Under Scrutiny In Kuirau Recreational Park and Child Dies After Rotorua Hot Pool Plunge – updated

Rotorua parks: not such a safe places for children, parents take note. Take care how you dress them too:

New Zealand. Any Colour So Long As It’s Black : 4 year old attacked for wearing a red T-shirt in Whakatane and a man gets bashed in New Plymouth because his dog had a red leash.

Supermarket Frenzy

Take care in Rotorua’s supermarkets too. This is a video of two security guards getting wacked by a mother and daughter team earlier this month, it soon went viral

Don’t get caught up in a brawl when shoplifters are challenged. It is socially acceptable in New Zealand to just stand-by and watch – there is no obligation to lend assistance.

Eve Margaret Campbell, 50, and her daughter Cherylly Campbell, 30 later appeared in court charged with aggravated assault.

New Zealand has many gangs

For background to this story read our Turangi Campsite Attack posts.

The Sunday Star times reported today that the 16 year old youth, who admitted he’d raped and beaten the five year old Belgian girl at Camp Habitat in Turangi, has “gang connections” and that the family are “rotten apples” The youth may also have committed the crime as part of a gang initiation process.

The Star-Times understands the teen’s father had been associated with the gang, but not since the attack, which shocked New Zealand in the lead-up to Christmas. The boy’s father cannot be named for legal reasons.

The claims were made by several sources close to the investigation.

The family and the boy are connected to a gang,” one said. “The family is gang-associated. It’s not just the father.”

Another source said: “The family are well-recognised as being what they are … rotten apples. Where are you heading in society when you have this underbelly?”…

…The Star-Times has been shown a photo that shows him posing, shirtless, with a gang nickname and an anti-police slogan clearly visible.”

Facebook “Killah”

Presumably that is the same photograph that appears on the public Facebook page of a youth with the same name as the alleged offender. It shows him wild-eyed and bare-chested, his nose and lower face marked with a pen drawn moko, and with the words “Killah” “FTP” (fuck the police) and “Wat Up Naaw” written in rough script across the image. Other pictures on his scant public profile show him involved with a cultural group of young people. The Whaleoil blog has published a blurred faced version of the “Killah” image.

We already know that Turangi locals said that the Mongrel Mob was out in force on the night that the girl was attacked as she lay sleeping in her holiday caravan. We also know that members of the Notorious Chapter of the Mongrel Mob have been involved in the Salvation Army’s residential Hauora treatment programme (for P addicts) which had been held at the holiday camp.

The Star’s news has been discussed on the Trade Me forum, a local New Zealand chat board. These are some of the things that Kiwis are saying about it and about the wider problem of organised gangs in New Zealand, one person calls them “urban terrorists“, another despairs that New Zealand is no longer a good place to raise children (additional thread link)

Warning: Some of these comments contain graphic descriptions of gang outrages and alleged injuries that were inflicted on the 5 year old Belgian girl.  Discretion is advised.

• so good of the s.s.t to tell us what we already figured out.

• If the govt can swiftly pass an act concerning Piracy, why can’t they pass an act making Gangs illegal as they did in Holland and Germany.

• the gangs are alive and well in this country,and run a lot of the towns,i know because my dad was an ex angel……..gangs are not nice people and have more going on inside of them than naive people think they know…….his mates used to visit him up until a couple of yours ago and no they werent clean living honest people at all. but i also thought the teen who raped the 5 year old would not be right in the head anyway,he would have a tendancy towards children and pedophilia

• The bastard who did this to the 5 year old should be shot. He apparently shattered her pelvis, bit off bits of her face, lips and ears and broke 5 teeth.

• I wish they could eradicate the whole family. My Aunty was the victim of a Gang initiation by two 16 year olds and two 18 year olds. She was brutally raped and murdered and left in an Orchard. She left behind two of her own children and two adopted children. The 16yr olds were out in 18 months. My family and I will always hate gangs, it doesn’t matter which one, they’re all just as evil as each other.

• As soon as the Hells Angels step foot in this country the Police eradicate them/ Yet our home gangs go untouched. Every week 3-5 young women are tortured and raped. These may also be gang connected but, until people begin to see the gangs in this country for what they really are and how many in the government kowtow to them, it will continue. We need to open our eyes and say enough!

• The guys I know who are sent to low security prisons pretty much have to join a gang as soon as they get inside, or be intimidated. And then do what the gang wants. So a young man already looking at being recruited would readily be taken under their wing. None of them enjoy their time in jail, but life outside is often as violent as inside, so no real difference. They just can’t do exactly what they want inside.

• The bigger gangs such as Hells Angles run our gangs. it is where they source a lot of there drugs, business assoiciates and finance from. I have seen minutes from gang meetings and exersice books full of business figures and i can tell you the general public don’t know the half of it and probably just as well. Gangs have lawyers, Accountants, pharmacists etc as active members of these gangs. I have never seen hard proof of a police officer currently as an memeber of a gang but i have certainly met ones that have been. But anyway when you see the gangs family trees they all stem back to the larger overseas gangs such as the Triads and hells angles etc. when we see gangs such as the mongrel mob we see patches and unruly thugs, but never see the the very clean living non tattoed well educated middle man or the well to do white collar suit and tie businesman higher up the chain, the shakers and movers..

• I recall that the police were originally reported as saying that there were were NO gang connections. Did the police lie? In any case, some good can come out of this. Any gang that is involved in violence can be made a banned organisation. It would then be an offence to wear gang clothing/patch, or to associate with each other.

• I think it’s about time to treat these gang members as terrorists, as that’s what they are…urban terrorists. People shouldn’t have to live in fear around them and have innocent people get caught up in their fights with each other.

• what saddens me is the attitude of the mid teenagers towards pregnancy etc. the kids i have contact with have the attitude that the girl shouldn’t have “let herself” get pregnant and its considered by the boys who dump them and carry rabbiting everywhere…

• Yeah my daughters had so many friends end up preggers in the last year its ridiculous… Just so glad she has her head screwed on and is more worried about having a life and a career first.

• the reason there are so many child murders and terrible things happening here is because we have growing number of feral people living in NZ with little or no education,who are continuing to breed,they claim claim benefits after benefits as the system enables them to do so……….but nothing is ever done about it,it will continue to get worse until something is done…….its too easy to get a DPB…and these feral women are doing so.

• “The maximum for rape is 20 years, yet the average sentence is just 8 years” Quote from The Law and Order Referendum.

• Well I said in the other thread that it would be a prospect earning his patch, and I’m right sadly. For all the people thinking that gang members have some type of standard, and raping children is too low does the name Delcelia Whittaker ring any bells at all??? Do any of you remember her stepfather (mongrel mob) boasting about carrying her around upside down like a 6 pack?? a finger in each…well you get the drift. Nothing is too low, too low is celebrated.  He will be looked after in jail and receive his patch when he gets out.

this link has heaps of quotes from off this message board on it already lol http://emigratetonewzealand.wordpress.com/

• Well, it’s a fact now, that we are really starting to get a bad name internationally for violenet crime, rape & murder. That’s really very very sad…..

• A friend of mine, who lived in the country many years ago, was outside in the garden with her children when some gang members walked up the drive-way with a petrol can. She thought they were going to ask for petrol but instead they grabbed her and began to rape her. The oldest child quietly took the others inside and dressed them in their pjamas and watched out the window helplessly while his mother was gang raped. The mother was so traumatised she never told her husband or GP for over a year. The child who had watched was also traumatised and he was affected emotionally for many years to come until it was found out that he had seen everything that had been done to his mother.

• it’s not the first time either, we’ve got a reputation of doing this to tourists, remember the other caravan attack on the female of the 2, down by the river part of a camping. I am seriously thinking it’s not good to raise children in NZ anymore.  If I am going to have grandchildren, maybe it’s good they come to NZ for a holiday instead with their parents, but LOCK their tents and caravans. I really don’t see NZ’s state of law and order getting any better, sad to say. ((((((((((((((((((((((((((((

One particular comment caught our eye, something about the way in which the youth was taken into custody

And to “negotiate” the arrest of this young offender is a new low.. cultural sensitivity maybe ??

I want to hear of doors being busted in, and family members sitting on the floor with their hands on their heads while Police guns are pointed at them as other officers search for the low life….

Now that we know that the family is alleged to be a bad apples and to have gang affiliations, that gives a possible reason for the police’s softly softly approach. Was it to avoid violent conflict with armed gang members and perhaps to give the gang an opportunity to ‘save face’ and distance themselves from the boy’s actions?

New Zealand’s Gangs:

According to the book Gangs by Ross Kemp New Zealand has more gangs per head than any other country in the world, with about seventy major gangs and over 4,000 patched members in a population of about 4,000,000 people.

According to the sociologist Jarrod Gilbert, New Zealand has had problems with youth and street gangs since the 1950s. However organised crime gangs such as those which currently dominate the New Zealand scene mostly date from the 1970s. ‘Gangsta’ style gangs have been a presence in New Zealand since the early 1990s but individual gangs of this type are typically short lived.

New Zealand gangs have generally been heavily influenced by their American counterparts. Although Black Power takes its name from the black liberation movement of the same name, in many ways it and similar gangs are much more akin to white American motorcycle gangs such as the Hell’s Angels. Since the early 1990s newer gangs have primarily been influenced by African American street gangs such as the Crips and Bloods.

New Zealand's Mongrel Mob patch

Mongrel Mob (from Wikipedia)

The Mongrel Mob is a New Zealand gang, originally formed in Hawke’s Bay in the 1960s and early 1970s.

The gang offers a surrogate ‘family’ for young men, most of whom are often alienated from their family via joining. Members are from New Zealand’s Maori, European or other Polynesian ethnic groups, with Maori or part Maori predominating. The gang currently operates in many cities within New Zealand; some of the best known chapters include Mongrel Mob Hastings, Mongrel Mob Porirua and Mongrel Mob Notorious. Mob members are notorious for their tattooed faces and red bandannas.

The name “mongrel mob” originated from the comments of a District Court Judge in the Hawkes Bay in the late 1960s, when he referred to a group of men before him as “nothing but a pack of mongrels”.^[1] The name stuck, and later, similarly named groups sprang up around the country, forming their own independent chapters.

Today there is a network of more than thirty Mongrel Mob chapters throughout New Zealand. They are especially active in King Country, Opotiki and Hastings . The Mongrel Mob’s main rival is a gang called Black Power and there have been several very public and violent clashes between the two gangs over the years.

The gang’s colours are predominantly red and black. The patches usually feature a swastika and a British Bulldog wearing a German Stahlhelm which supposedly is an image intended to offend as it is a British Bulldog wearing the helmet. The patch is worn on the back of “patched members” – those considered loyal and trustworthy enough to be in the gang. The patch will also be tattooed on the member’s body.

A Prospect is a person who is loyal to the gang but is not a “patched member” yet and must normally do errands or “missions” to show his loyalty to his gang. A Prospect normally has a “patched member” to report or “clock in” to. This “patched member” normally decides when it is time for the Prospect to be “patched”.

The hierarchy goes as follows: Captain or President, Vice President, Sergeant at arms, Patched members, Prospects. In some cases they use younger blood gangs as Prospects.

Links in the press to some other NZ gang atrocities

http://www.odt.co.nz/news/tags/mongrel-mob

http://www.hawkesbaytoday.co.nz/news/two-mongrel-mob-members-jailed/1043137/

http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/crime/5592814/Call-to-re-open-rape-murder-case-19-years-on

http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/crime/4162555/Rapist-took-my-dignity-victim

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Is New Zealand a good place to raise children?

Read our  Facts and Stats about NZ Education and Children’s Issues

Tourists have been hospitalised by marauding mobs, visitors from Christchurch beaten and kidnapped,  seals clubbed to death and vacationing US soldiers robbed.

Then there was the immigrant couple, Ms Irvine-Boag 54, and her partner, Tony Neumann, 53, who moved out of the town because of two violent street assaults and threats that were  made against them.

What a place to live! and who would want to spend time vacationing in such a violent location. Surely there must  safer places around to spend your tourist dollars in? (other places also do whales)

Today we spotted an update to one of these stories. One of the assault cases came up in court and details about the events of that evening have been revealed

First, we see that the victim still has a hard time coping with the after effects of the assault.

 One of the victims of a savage group assault in Kaikoura suffers anxiety attacks and has trouble even walking to his letterbox more than a year after the incident, according to his victim impact statement.

The man suffered a broken jaw, shoulder and widespread bruising about his face and body after he was punched and kicked until he lost consciousness in Beach Rd, Kaikoura, on December 27, 2010.

Judge Denys Barry read some of the statement in the Blenheim District Court yesterday when he sentenced Daniel Leslie Hema, who was one of the men involved in the assault.

Next. The perp effectively got let off. A disappointingly lenient sentence (home detention) was handed out by the court. That is very unlikely to act as a deterrent to other violent offenders in the town.

Hema, 29, of Kaikoura, previously admitted causing grievous bodily harm with intent to injure, assault with intent to injure and unlawful assembly. He was sentenced to seven months’ home detention and ordered to pay $8000 in emotional harm to the two victims.

Hema was charged with two others, who have denied the charges.

The offender is obviously one of those good Kiwi blokes, who just happened to ‘get into a bit of bother’ and got a note from his mum to give to the judge.

Hema had “good prospects” working on a dairy farm near Kaikoura and hoped to become a manager of the farm in the future. He was remorseful and also provided references from his employer, friends and family.

It doesn’t help the victim to know that his assailant effectively got away with his crime. What’s more, his chances of getting reparation out of him are slim to nothing: $8,000 from the wages of a dairy farm worker? we don’t think so, neither will there be any penalty for non-payment. But, good luck to him let’s see if he can make the effort to put right the wrongs he’s committed.

Is it any wonder that the town’s mayor, Winston Gray, despairing of the violence in his community said in Nov 2010:

““the incident was not the first against visitors and the community needed to help stamp out violence. He was disappointed so many people were involved in the incident.  “There must have been some amongst them that thought this is not right. Where were they – were they all so alcohol or drug-affected that reasoned judgment had totally gone out the window? Banter between groups of males is one thing; these actions, however, cannot be condoned.

“These young men need to realise that they actually do not own this town.””

Well Mr Gray, it would appear that they do own Kaikoura and will continue to do so until the courts start handing out sentences that are commensurate to the crimes committed.

Until then if you’re thinking of visiting Kaikoura we say give it a wide berth.

Police have just released a list of the victims names, they are

Hot air balloon pilot Lance Hopping, aged 53 of Masterton.

Husband and wife Howard and Diana Cox of Wellington. Howard was aged 71 years and Diana 63.

Husband and wife Desmond and Ann Dean of Masterton. Ann was aged 65 and Desmond aged 70.

Cousins Valerie Bennett, aged 70 of Masterton and Denise Dellabarca, aged 58 of Paraparaumu.

Partners Stephen Hopkirk, aged 50 and Belinda Harter, aged 49 years, both of Lower Hutt.

Johannes Jordann, known as Chrisjan, aged 21 of Wellington and girlfriend Alexis Still, aged 19, also of Wellington

Eleven people, including the pilot, have been killed in a hot air balloon crash in the Wairarapa.

Pilot Lance Hopping, CEO of Ballooning New Zealand Ltd, and five couples from the Wellington region were killed when their balloon (a Cameron A 210 named “Mr Big” reg. number ZK-XXF) burst into flames and became caught up in powerlines near Carterton this morning, cutting power to the town for some hours.

This is New Zealand’s largest air disaster since the death of nine people, including tourists, in a light plane crash at Fox Glacier on 4 Sept 2010. That event went largely unnoticed outside of New Zealand because it happened on the same day as the first Christchurch earthquake. For more read Fox Glacier air crash.

Few people know that New Zealand’s first fatal air accident (1899)  involved a balloon which landed in the sea, drowning the pilot.

Another similar tragedy happened in 1995, when a balloon belonging to a company called Balloon Adventures ditched in the sea off Waimairi Beach in Christchurch. Three tourists drowned

It is not known whether any foreign nationals were involved in today’s crash, nor have any names been released other than the pilot’s.

The company, Hastings based Early Morning Balloons ltd (Facebook page) is said to be involved and is cooperating with civil aviation investigators. It has issued a statement expressing their condolences to the families and loved ones of the victims.

A witness told Fairfax News

“he was waving to the passengers as the balloon passed overhead and appeared to hit a power cable.

“The people were enjoying a nice ride and by the looks of it they clipped a power wire,” he said.

“Then I heard the screams and looked out the window and heard it coming down. They sounded like screams of joy but they weren’t. It wasn’t coming from a great deal of height.

“I ran down the road to see if I could help but by that stage it was too late. It was just burned out. By the time the emergency services got there, there wasn’t much of a chance.”… more here

According to the company’s website it charges $350 per person for its Wairarapa flights which take off from behind the paua shop on Kent Street, Clareville, a street criss-crossed with overhead powerlines.

Fire extinguisher and safety equipment

A sequence of photographs taken by local photographer Geoff Walker just days ago shows the balloon seemingly very close to overhead power lines, and one news report stated he was on the ground taking photos as the balloon burst into flames and crashed.

Those photographs are likely to form an important part of the investigation into what went wrong with ZK-XXF.

Various reports say that a fire started in the passenger basket and spread up the ropes towards the canopy. One of the questions we would expect to be answered is did the pilot carry and use an operational  1 kg AB:E type fire extinguisher to fight the blaze? Some of Mr Walkers photographs seem to show a small red extinguisher stored in the same compartment as the propane cylinders.

Other safety equipment that should’ve been on-board includes a simple pair of flame resistant gloves for the pilot so that he could shut off a gas valve in the event of a leak. In addition, the pilot should’ve been wearing clothing made of natural fibres which will singe and not burn readily. source

We suspect that the basket hit a powerline as the balloon made its descent, the wires made contact causing a spark which ignited a propane gas leak, causing a fierce fire. However, it will be a good 6-12 months before the accident investigation is concluded.

Google street view of the street outside the launch site

Google street view of the crash site on nearby Somerset Street

Our thoughts are with the family and friends of the deceased and with the witnesses to the crash who must’ve been traumatised by what they’ve seen.

In a police statement

“Wairarapa Area Commander Inspector Brent Register says Police began receiving reports from eye witnesses about 7:25am, where they reported a hot air balloon in distress.
“It appears the hot air balloon operated by Early Morning Balloons left Kent Street, Carterton (behind The Paua Factory), between 6:40am and 6:45am.”
He says after a 45-minute flight, the balloon was to land in a paddock in Somerset Road, Carterton. As the balloon was preparing to land, it hit wires on a power line, causing sparking in the basket.
“At this point, two of the 11 people onboard, believed to be a male and a female, appear to have jumped from the basket.”
Inspector Register says the balloon then made a sharp ascent, a fire ignited on board and the balloon plummeted into a paddock approx 200 metres away on Somerset Road.
All 11 people on board, including the pilot and five couples from the wider Wellington region, were killed in the crash.
“We are continuing to work with our partner agencies, which include the Coroner’s office, the Civil Aviation Authority, the Transport Accident and Investigation Commission, Dept of Labour, NZ Fire Service and Victim Support.”
Inspector Register says a thorough investigation is being conducted to ascertain the cause of the tragedy…”

Video of crash site

List of Victims

An official list will be released on Sunday but the deceased are believed to include:

The pilot Lance Hooping, Masterton retirees Desmond and Ann Dean who had vouchers for the flight as a Christmas present, Wellington couple Howard and Diana Cox, Wellington woman Alexis Still and her boyfriend Chrisjan Jordaan, who is believed to have originated from South Africa. Another couple have relatives in Victoria, Australia who are travelling to New Zealand.

Again, our deepest condolences go out to their families and friends.

Adventure tourism, deaths and regulation

New Zealand has a shocking safety record for some of its tourism activities, something we’ve often blogged about.

The CAA recently drafted new rules to force all aviation adventure tourism activities, including hot air balloons, microlights, warbirds, and tandem hang gliders and paragliders to hold air operator certificate.

The CAA safeguards civil aviation in New Zealand and has control over which operators can fly passengers and authority to make sure they meet safety standards.

Under Part 115 of the new civil aviation rules, all adventure aviation operators must hold an Operator Certificate.

“For those currently operating under Parts 101, 103, 104, 105, and 106, here are the transition timeframes for gaining a Part 115 Operator Certificate:

• Hot air balloon, hang glider, paraglider, tandem parachute, and parachute drop aircraft operators must be certificated by 1 May 2012.
• Microlight aircraft operations must be certificated by 1 Nov 2012.
• Glider operations must be certificated by 1 May 2013.

Those currently conducting an adventure aviation operation under a Part 119 AOC may continue to do so until the expiry of that certificate, or 10 November 2012, whichever comes first.”

Despite several high profile deaths and injuries, a number of prosecutions and the introduction of a auditing and registration system for all tourism operators, we’re saddened to learn that these tragedies are still occurring.

An all encompassing set of Adventure tourism regulations finally were enacted in October 2011, three and a half years after the drowning  death of British tourist Emily Jordan sparked a review of the adventure tourism industry within NZ.

Incredibly there is a further delay of three years until all 1,500 adventure tourism businesses within New Zealand must be registered and in possession of a safety audit certificate.

We don’t know if Early Morning Balloons ltd was registered or had ever received a safety audit.

More more about adventure tourism safety in NZ read posts tagged accordingly, or our stats and facts page

In a press conference, held before the 16 year old suspect in the Turangi camp site case appeared in court this afternoon, the detective in charge of the investigation made a comment about New Zealand society.

It was reported on by the Daily Post, who wrote:

“New Zealand society needs to take a good look at itself, says officers working on the Turangi assault.

Detective Inspector Mark Loper, who is in charge of the investigation into the attack on a 5-year-old girl at a Turangi camp ground, spoke at press conference this afternoon, before a 16-year-old was due to appear in Taupo District Court.

Mr Loper said New Zealand society needed to take a good look at itself…” more here

Police have said they will ask that bail be refused after the youth was accompanied to the police station by a relative yesterday.

This is just one of many violent assaults in recent years linked to young men and women in New Zealand society.

Update 15 January 2012: Parents plead for a fair ruling 

The Belgian parents of the raped child have expressed their concern at the judge’s handling of the offender (who said he will not defend charges of rape, burglary and grievous bodily harm via sexual violation) after the trial judge praised the 16 year youth for dressing well for court and supposedly writing a nice poem in which he asked God to “make him a man.” The injured child’s parents have asked for a fair ruling on their case

We say if this youth wants to be a man he should leave God out of it. Stow the poems, square up to the full face of the law and accept a man’s punishment for the terrible crimes he has inflicted on this family and their sleeping child.

Any perceived leniency by the courts will be seen as implicit consent for any hot- blooded thug to prey on whomever they wish, knowing that a clean suit and a well written poem is going to get them off doing jail time.

An outpouring of support, teddy bears and financial donations from the public is not enough to salve New Zealand’s conscience in this case, it is vitally important that justice is done and seen to be done, the world is watching. New Zealand needs to stand up, take a look at itself  and “be a man” too.

Phillip Cottrell, Karen Aim

Some of the most high profile recent criminal cases involving visitors to New Zealand have included the the assault and killing of Scottish journalist Phillip Cottrell (a 17 and 19 year old are accused of that crime) and Scottish tourist Karen Aim, who was bludgeoned to death in Taupo by a 14 year old boy in an apparently motiveless attack. Her family are still searching for reasons, as are we all for all these senseless crimes.

This appeared in The Scotsman recently:

THE parents of a New Zealand teenager who murdered Scottish tourist Karen Aim have come under fire from the coroner carrying out the inquest into the case for not keeping an eye on their son.

Ms Aim, 27, from the Orkney Islands, was battered with a baseball bat just yards from her home in New Zealand in January 2008 by 14-year-old Jache Broughton…

At the inquest yesterday, coroner Dr Wallace Bain said: “At the bottom of it all is the lack of parental supervision. It has completely failed in this case.”

He added: “That Karen Aim had felt safe enough to walk alone and then be attacked near her home, and treated with indignities by a young man, is just awful and sends an awful message overseas of New Zealand…

Ms Aim’s parents chose not to attend the inquest.

However, a family friend who represented them told how the couple longed to know why Broughton committed the brutal murder.

Mr Aim agreed with Dr Bain’s judgment that a lack of supervision by Broughton’s parents had contributed to the murder.

Mr Bain reserved his findings but intimated his report would be critical of the teenager being allowed to roam alone late at night. He also questioned whether Broughton was high on drugs or drunk at the time.

Mr Bain added: “No rational, normal person could have done this without being away with the fairies or on something.”

It will be a tragic set of circumstances if the same factors are at play in the attack on the five year old girl in Turangi and on Mr Cottrell.

Were talking about a serious lack of parental supervision, the misuse of use of alcohol or drugs and dysfunctional behaviour in young New Zealanders,  some of whom are inexorably drawn towards the glamour of organised gangs, of which New Zealand has plenty.

How many times do these awful crimes have to be repeated before New Zealanders face up to this problem and deal with it, enough is enough. Its time to face the facts.

Surely it can’t be that hard. This is supposed to be a great place to raise kids, with one of the best standards of living in the world and a small population of just under 4.5 million.

Similar story

Gang Prospects Jailed For The Rape Of Japanese Tourist In Opotiki

Ranginui Rahi, 18 and Mark Hati, 16 the two youths who pleaded guilty to the rape of a 22 year old Japanese tourist in Opotiki, in the eastern Bay of Plenty, have both been sentenced to 9 years in prison for rape and aggravated buglary.

The two armed offenders broke into the Ford Street house in August and attacked the woman whilst her host family sat in another room watching television.

Mark Hati was said to have aspirations to become a patched member of the Mongrel Mob and expects to be accepted once his sentence has been served. Of course, the Mob may not exist by then which will be no sad loss for New Zealand, or the long suffering residents of Opotiki… more here

Sex and other crimes among children

12 Children were apprehended for sexual assault in the 2008-2009 financial year, including a five-year-old child and two six-year-olds

Over the same period, 716 Children were reprimanded by police. The youngest included a four-year-old girl, two five-year-old girls and five five-year-old boys, for dishonesty offences (shoplifting, burglary or theft of property valued under $500)

Undercurrent of brutality

For more about the undercurrent of brutality that impacts on NZ’s youth read our blogs tagged Child Abuse and Bullying in Schools and our Children and Education facts and stats page.

Lastly, a quote from  “HEAR OUR VOICES” by  Save the Children, NZ:

Aotearoa/ New Zealand has;

• A problem with gangs that are contributing to crime and abuse in the home. Young people are joining gangs for safety and are becoming victims of gang life.
• A problem with bullying – particularly of specific groups like refugee and migrant young people.
• A problem with child abuse which is not just statistics or features in death notices in newspapers but a reality that many of the young story tellers knew and experienced.
• An issue with domestic violence affecting the lives of many children and young people.”