Gentle guard dies after scuffle

By SCOTT MacLEOD

As the grandfather of a big family, Mamoe Kaisala knew how to deal quietly with troublesome youths at the Ultra Zone games parlour in Manukau.

The part-time security guard would usually give them a second chance.

"Go home," he would say. "Have a sleep, come back when you're okay."

But on Saturday night, Mr Kaisala's gentle manner failed. He was stabbed in the chest outside the parlour after evicting two youths for unruly behaviour.

Two hours later the 51-year-old died in Middlemore Hospital.

He had been secretary of a church, chairman of a school association, a husband and a father of six children.

"He was a high chief - well respected in the Samoan community," said son Dallas Kaisala.

Police said Mamoe Kaisala evicted the two youths from the parlour about 11pm on Saturday. Soon after, when Mr Kaisala was outside with a friend, a fight broke out and both were stabbed.

As the fight continued, several bystanders leaped in to help the stabbed pair.

Witnesses said they saw a man run across Lakewood Court to the nearby Village 8 cinema complex. About seven people were chasing. There were yells of "Get him, get him".

Guards at Village 8 grabbed a man who slipped into one of the theatres. A knife with a 30cm blade was found under one of the seats.

It is unlikely that Mr Kaisala would have been able to put up much of a fight. He was ill from diabetes, and had been on a sickness benefit.

Dallas Kaisala, 27, and brother Marc, 24, also security guards, were working at a food festival in Kumeu on Saturday night when they received a phone call from the parlour's owner, Dennis Lawrence, to say their father had been stabbed.

Yesterday, at the family home in Clendon Park, the two brothers spoke with pride about how they and their father helped clean up the Ultra Zone parlour.

The brothers said they obtained a contract to work at Ultra Zone three years ago. At that time, they said, the place was troubled by drug-dealing, teenage prostitution and under-age drinking.

It was close to being shut down.

The brothers said they revived Ultra Zone. They kicked out troublemakers and kept the peace.

Among items they confiscated were hammers, sawn-off sledgehammers, screwdrivers, chisels, forks, knives and dent-pullers.

About a year ago, however, the brothers obtained security work elsewhere and their father continued at Ultra Zone part-time, working Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays.

"It really had nothing to do with the money," said Dallas Kaisala. "He wanted to get out, talk to the young ones, share some of his experience."

The brothers said their father was generally respected by the patrons. Some nights he would ask Mr Lawrence to open a free pool table. Mr Kaisala would then shoot pool with the youngsters, talk and mingle with them.

"Dad, he was good with young people," said Marc Kaisala.

"At the worst of times, when there was trouble, he was fair but firm.

"He gave people a second chance or an option. Most guys in the security business would never give them an option."

Marc Kaisala said his family were "not the richest".

The brothers and other siblings with jobs would have to pitch in to run the family now their father was gone.

The other man stabbed is understood to be a youngster who befriended Mr Kaisala at the parlour over several months. He had surgery and was in a stable condition in Middlemore Hospital yesterday.

The Kaisala brothers said Thursday night was normally the worst for trouble. Shops in Manukau were open until 9pm and large numbers of people, some unsavoury, would hang out at Ultra Zone until it closed at midnight.

Ultra Zone staff could not be contacted yesterday.

Police cordoned off a large area around the graffiti-tagged parlour. Later, they charged a 17-year-old Manurewa youth with murder.

Detective Senior Sergeant Gary Lendrum said the youth would appear in the Manukau District Court today. Other charges might be laid.