Mount Maunganui Bayfair stabber does not deny wounding charge in Youth Court

Police were called to Bayfair Shopping Centre on the evening of May 3 after a stabbing.

A teenager accused of stabbing another girl at Bayfair Shopping Centre in Mount Maunganui has not denied a charge relating to the incident, which left the victim bleeding from deep cuts to her abdomen.

The offender remains in custody after appearing in the Tauranga Youth Court on Monday via audio-visual link.

The offender’s and victim’s identities are automatically suppressed, and some details of the case cannot be reported for legal reasons.

Lawyer Peter Attwood told Judge Louis Bidois the teen accused did not deny the charge of wounding with intent to cause grievous bodily harm - which attracts a maximum penalty of 14 years in prison.

Attwood did not seek bail and asked Judge Bidois to order a Family Group Conference.

In the Youth Court jurisdiction, a young person must either deny or not deny a charge, which determines the next step in the process.

For a non-denial, the next step is a Family Group Conference. The Ministry for Children, Oranga Tamariki, website said this was a formal meeting where the young person, their youth advocate and whānau, the victim/s or representatives and supporters, police, social workers, other relevant people and a youth justice coordinator discuss what happened and the impact of it.

It aimed to help a young person face up to what they did, take responsibility, develop a plan to start to put things right with the victim- and learn how to make good choices and get their life back on track.

Judge Bidois remanded the teenager in custody to appear in a Rangatahi Court on June 10 for the Family Group Conference.

Rangatahi Courts were held on marae and followed Māori cultural processes, with hearings facilitated by a Youth Court judge together with kaumātua and kuia, according to the Youth Court website.

Stabbing at Bayfair: What happened

According to the police summary of facts, the teen offender and the victim were known to one another.

On the afternoon of May 3, the offender was at a Bayfair Shopping Centre when she spotted the victim entering the centre and followed her.

The summary of facts said the teen then initiated an altercation with the victim, pulled out a knife and stabbed her multiple times.

She did not stop stabbing at the victim until members of the public pulled her away and got control of the knife.

She fled the scene and hid in a vehicle.

Police said the victim sustained at least four deep lacerations in her abdomen area with significant bleeding and was taken to hospital.

A Tauranga Hospital spokesperson said the girl had since been discharged.

Sandra Conchie is a senior journalist at the Bay of Plenty Times and Rotorua Daily Post who has been a journalist for 24 years. She mainly covers police, court and other justice stories, as well as general news. She has been a Canon Media Awards regional/community reporter of the year.