Dairy owners can’t sell, can’t leave and want to quit the country after killing of worker

Mukesh Patel has owned his South Brighton dairy for 19 years and will speed the selling process up due to living in fear “twenty-four seven”. Photo / George Heard

A Christchurch dairy owner has confirmed he will shut his shop’s doors and move back to India, regardless of whether his business sells, after Wednesday night’s homicide.

Two other dairy owners also want to quit, but can’t due to lease restrictions and a struggling market.

Dairies have been one of many targets by offenders throughout most of 2022.

On Thursday, the industry hit breaking point when news broke a newly married dairy worker had been killed during an aggravated robbery.

When South Brighton owner Mukesh Patel learned of the homicide he made his mind up then and there.

The owner plans to shut his dairy’s doors for good in March next year and move back to India.

“I don’t care whether or not my business sells, I’ve had enough - my work is not more important than my life,” he said.

Mukesh had already warned his daughter and son-in-law on multiple occasions to not “waste time” and also sell their dairy.

Three of Patel’s business-owner friends have left the country due to them feeling unsafe. Photo / George Heard

Three of Patel’s friends, all Christchurch business owners, have left New Zealand for Australia.

He said they left as they felt unsafe.

“At the end of the day, if there’s no support from Government then it’s just not worth it,” he said.

“I’ve had enough now.”

Patel has owned his South Brighton dairy for 19 years - he planned to retire in two years once he’s eligible for the pension, but will speed the process up due to living in fear “24/7”.

While he’s managed to avoid any incidents so far, Patel said he’s not waiting around for his dairy to be targeted next.

“Why am I going to stay in fear for the last two years? It’s just too risky to wait it out and, if something happened, my retirement money goes,” he said.

“I’m closing just after 6pm [each night], I just don’t want to go through the hassle.”

Thirteen kilometres away in south Christchurch’s Sydenham, another dairy owner wants out after being hit five times in one week by different groups of offenders.

Stephen, the shop’s owner, said he had to endure his store’s windows being broken, stock being stolen and heavy financial losses last month when the incidents hit over a short time span.

With his family struggling with mental wellbeing, Stephen doesn’t feel comfortable working in the industry and wants to sell his shop.

But he’s stuck in a lease, which means he won’t be going anywhere until somebody buys.

“I’m trying to leave, I want to sell but nobody will take [the shop],” he said.

“It’s [been] enough for us, it’s dangerous at the moment but we have a lease - you need to remember that.

“We can’t go, but if there was no lease we’d be gone now.”

Another dairy owner in New Brighton agreed the sale process for dairies has grown next to impossible.

It is especially difficult given the industry’s uncertainty with the SmokeFree 2025 proposal, which would see restrictions on where cigarettes can be sold and creating a licensing regime.

Dairy owners have found selling their business next to impossible, due to the SmokeFree 2025 proposal. Photo / George Heard

The owner was hit with a ram raid in September, his shop’s window frame was damaged and the customer inconvenience cost him a great deal of business.

“We’ve had this business for a while, but the ram raid made us feel so insecure - it was an invasion of our property, our lives,” he said.

While the landscape of dairy ownership has grown pessimistic with staff shortages and impending tobacco restrictions, the owner said safety is a major reason for selling the business.

Christchurch is swamped with an over-supply of convenience stores, with very low demand.

“The market is pretty tough right now. If you put one up for sale, [the advertisement] sits there for quite a while before anybody ever shows interest. It’s so hard to find a buyer.”

Sunny Kaushal has been the country’s advocate against dairy and convenience store crime on behalf of the Dairy and Business Owner’s Group.

Sunny Kaushal - chair of the Dairy and Business Owners Group - wants answers from the Minister. Photo / Michael Craig

A statement from Kaushal expressed his dissatisfaction with Government’s action on crime policies, calling the country “lawless”.

He said the death of the dairy worker was “inevitable and sadly predictable”.

“We warned someone would be seriously injured or killed. Yet we only get radio silence from a Government that has our blood on their hands.”

Kaushal spoke specifically about Prime Minister Ardern, claiming the group never received a single reply despite asking her to meet.

When asked about this on Thursday, Ardern told the media that the Minister of Police had met with Kaushal three weeks ago.

She also mentioned there was “grave concern” regarding aggravated robberies, and rejected the notion she was soft on crime.

According to Ardern, she’d met with Justice Minister Kiri Allan and MSD minister Carmel Sepuloni about what gaps there were in the system and how they could be addressed to target offenders appropriately.