Armed Robbery At Dairy Was Its Third In Four Years

The NZ Herald is carrying a story today about another armed robbery at a dairy in New Zealand. This is getting to be an regular occupational hazard for the owners of many small businesses, most of them unfortunately are migrants.

On this occasion it was the Caspar Dairy, Great South Rd, Papatoetoe that was hit.

Owner Ruth Zhu had a long barrelled firearm pointed at her by three youths on Wednesday night. She managed to sound an alarm and the thugs made their escape in a white vehicle, headed in the direction of Puhinui Rd.

Guns used more and more in dairy robberies
A sample of crimes from the last year:

May 1 Mark Zhang was robbed at gunpoint at his Candy Corner dairy, Palmerston North at about 5.30 in the evening. The robber escaped on his BMX with a couple of hundred dollars in cash.

November 2008 A female worker at Crinan St dairy, Invercargill was held up at 6.20am at by a kid with a gun who'd been in the store earlier buying candy. In October 2007 the same dairy had been held up with a knife.

September 2008 Shankar Patel of the Gemini Dairy, Wainuiomata experienced his second robbery at gunpoint in New Zealand, the thieves got away with $300.

August 2008 Galaxy dairy, Upper Hut was held up at 8 at night by three men wielding a hand gun.

July 2008 Xu Mei Ying was working at her family's Lynnray Dairy, New Lynn, Auckland when a lone man entered with a long-barrelled firearm. She was shot in the arm when she raised the alarm. The thief stole cigarettes from the store. It was the second time in six months that the shop had been robbed.

June 2008 Navtej Singh, owner of a Manurewa liquor store died after being shot in the chest at point blank range by four men who held up his shop. There was a storm of protest over the length of time it took to render aid to the injured man.

Wainuiomata Residents Banned for Bad Behaviour

Palmerston North Supreme Motor Lodge owner Steve Donnelly this week imposed a blanket ban on sports teams from Wainuiomata staying at his hotel, citing their repeated bad behaviour as the reason for making such a decision. See the report on Yahoo Xtra News or watch the YouTube Video

Wainuiomata High School's sports teams and the town's indoor sports club were accused of spitting, playing loud music at night, using obscene language and being unruly.

According to "The Age" Mr Donnelly said

"Sports teams from Wainuiomata High School and the town's indoor sports club were accused of spitting, playing loud music at night, using obscene language and being unruly.

"Everyone there refuses to acknowledge the problem, and accuses the world of being out to get them. I've been there once ... I was surrounded by graffiti, and I thought, 'I don't want to spend much time here.' "

Mr Donnelly said teachers and parents repeatedly failed to keep their charges in check, letting them run wild in the motel's facilities"

But rather than accepting responsibility for the actions of his students Wainuiomata High School principal Rob Mill told the Dominion Post that the motel manager Malcolm Glen was to blame.

"They are teenagers, so there is going to be some level of noise. The manager was quite unreasonable and actually quite aggressive."

But sporting teams from other locations haven't been banned, what's so unique about Wainuiomata?

One has to ask why there isn't better supervision of groups of unruly teenagers from Wainuiomata, who accepts responsibility for their actions?

Perhaps the statement made by MP Trevor Mallard, who was born and bred in Wainuiomata, gives us some clues to where the root of the problem lies:

"It's stupid and very, very unfair. It shows the sort of blind prejudice I thought we didn't have in New Zealand any more. I'm not surprised the (owner's) Australian," he told the paper"

Irony, on so many levels.

It doesn't take much imagination to realise that patterns of behaviour that are allowed in childhood will continue into adulthood.

Pat Lam, coach of the Blue Super 14 Team, said at a conference that rugby players involved in violent off-field incidents are reflective of New Zealand society when he downplayed numerous incidents involving some members of his team.

"It's not just our team, it's society in general. There is not one sports team that hasn't had an issue."

"We have that culture right throughout New Zealand. The amount of murders we have, they get pushed and some people break - it's not isolated to just our team, it's society in general,"

But by failing to condemn unacceptable off-game behaviour both Mallard and Lam could be seen by some as implicitly supporting a culture where anyone except the perpetrator is seen as responsible for anti-social behaviour.

Who sets the example to young people these days and sets the boundaries.

Motel owners?

Gang fight at a Wellington School

More evidence that gang activities and violent behaviour in New Zealand's schools are getting out of control:

Source NZ Herald

"A 23-year-old man has pleaded guilty to a charge of unlawful assembly, following a brawl in the grounds of Hutt Valley High School yesterday.

Police said a series of fights broke out shortly before 3pm after a group of three adults and six youths arrived at the school and confronted a student about a previous fight.

The school field erupted into a brawl when about 30 students went to aid their schoolmate.

About a dozen police were needed to quell the fighting and arrest the nine members of the group, who the school's principal said were wearing gang colours.

All nine were charged with unlawful assembly."
One of the 2,000 students at the school has published a video of the incident, believed to have been started by gang called the "Wax Assassins", on YouTube but it was removed soon afterwards.
However, there was an independent account of the stoush on topnews.net by Kohia Dennison which included the photograph shown above:

"After a Hutt High School student was attacked on a college sports field, nine people have been arrested.
It should be mentioned here that the three adults and six youth aged 14-17, who were not associated with college and have been charged with unlawful assembly. They will appear in court tomorrow.
Following a series of fights, which broke out just before 3pm, more than a dozen officers arrived at a spot.
During the violent fight, a cut was received by one female student after a rock was thrown at her.
It was confirmed by inspector Geoff Gwyn; Lower Hutt Police Response Manager that group confronted a student about a previous altercation involving a friend.
Mr. Gwyn said, "The group had been told to leave the college grounds earlier this morning but returned this afternoon and sought out the student. Scuffles broke out after 30 or so students went to aid their schoolmate."

The "Wax Assassins" are a youth gang from Wainuiomata with links to the Mongrel Mob

Human Rights Abuses at the school

An article on the Asia Pacific Forum.net website recently highlighted human rights abuses and bullying at the school, whereby boys were dragged onto the school field and violated by their classmates.

Concerned parents reported the incident to the Human Rights Commissioner and calls were made for a national enquiry into pupil safety and school violence:

"The Human Rights Commission is to investigate schools' anti-bullying policies to see whether children's rights to safety are being protected.
The move follows calls for a national inquiry by parents of bullying victims at Hutt Valley High School. The investigation is linked to a study by the children's commissioner into pupil safety and school violence.
Chief Human Rights Commissioner Rosslyn Noonan agreed to analyse children's human rights concerns after meeting Hutt Valley parents. Her report will focus on "the right to safety and security of the person, the right to education and the rights of victims".
It will consider how human rights are addressed by schools' anti-bullying policies and make recommendations in situations in which policies are not protecting children.
The Government unveiled anti-bullying initiatives this year after a spate of school violence.

Documents issued under the Official Information Act show Education Minister Chris Carter called for urgent action amid fears that schools were not treating bullying as a priority.

Last December nine Hutt Valley High School boys were dragged to the ground and violated by a pack of six classmates.

The victims' parents wrote to the Human Rights Commission alleging a "systematic failure" by state agencies responsible for protecting children. They asked for a national inquiry into violence and human rights abuses in schools.
The commission has agreed to assist Children's Commissioner Cindy Kiro's school safety investigation, which is due to be issued in February.
The Hutt Valley parents' spokesman welcomed the investigations, saying playground violence was "a much broader issue than one school ... We're talking about child abuse".