Finders should not be keepers

Some people would pocket the cash if they found a wallet on the road, bulging with more than $900. Some would take it to the nearest police station, contents intact, and some would probably be torn between doing the right and wrong thing.

Two Kaikohe children fell very much into the second group a little over a week ago. Nine-year-old Mihi Christmann-Williams and her seven-year-old brother Ngakau didn't hesitate for a second.

They took their find straight to the Kaikohe police station, where an officer was able to tell the wallet's shocked owner it had been handed in before she even realised it was missing.

Mihi and Ngakau's honesty was recognised during an end-of-term assembly at Kaikohe West School on Friday, when they were presented with Area Commander's certificates by the town's acting Senior Sergeant Pat Davis and Sergeant Michelle Row, who was on duty when the siblings handed in the wallet.

It belonged to Adelaide (Adz) Harris, who suspected that it had fallen out of her car when she was picking her daughter up from school. A little while earlier she'd withdrawn the money to pay bills, do the shopping and treat her whanau over the weekend.

Ms Harris told the children it had taken her a lot of courage to stand in front of an assembly and give a korero, but she wanted to publicly express her gratitude.

"Thank you for upholding what's good in our community. Thanks to these two tamariki I was able to pay my bills and carry on with our weekend, with an extra warm heart," she said.

The mother of three said she was "absolutely humbled" by the children's honesty, saying it had restored her faith in the community.

Mihi said the decision to take the wallet to the police station was simple.

"It was somebody else's, it wasn't ours. I wanted to tell the truth," she said, adding that her Auntie April, the children's great-aunt and guardian, had taught her to tell the truth and be responsible.

A proud April Rihari, who was joined at the assembly by other whanau members, said she tried to do the right thing by the children while also teaching them the right values.

Acting Senior Sergeant Davis said $900 was a substantial amount of money, even for an adult, and the children's decision to do the right thing deserved to be celebrated.