NZ Herald
  • Home
  • Latest news
  • Herald NOW
  • Video
  • New Zealand
  • Sport
  • World
  • Business
  • Entertainment
  • Podcasts
  • Quizzes
  • Opinion
  • Lifestyle
  • Travel
  • Viva
  • Weather

Subscriptions

  • Herald Premium
  • Viva Premium
  • The Listener
  • BusinessDesk

Sections

  • Latest news
  • New Zealand
    • All New Zealand
    • Crime
    • Politics
    • Education
    • Open Justice
    • Scam Update
  • Herald NOW
  • On The Up
  • World
    • All World
    • Australia
    • Asia
    • UK
    • United States
    • Middle East
    • Europe
    • Pacific
  • Business
    • All Business
    • MarketsSharesCurrencyCommoditiesStock TakesCrypto
    • Markets with Madison
    • Media Insider
    • Business analysis
    • Personal financeKiwiSaverInterest ratesTaxInvestment
    • EconomyInflationGDPOfficial cash rateEmployment
    • Small business
    • Business reportsMood of the BoardroomProject AucklandSustainable business and financeCapital markets reportAgribusiness reportInfrastructure reportDynamic business
    • Deloitte Top 200 Awards
    • CompaniesAged CareAgribusinessAirlinesBanking and financeConstructionEnergyFreight and logisticsHealthcareManufacturingMedia and MarketingRetailTelecommunicationsTourism
  • Opinion
    • All Opinion
    • Analysis
    • Editorials
    • Business analysis
    • Premium opinion
    • Letters to the editor
  • Politics
  • Sport
    • All Sport
    • OlympicsParalympics
    • RugbySuper RugbyNPCAll BlacksBlack FernsRugby sevensSchool rugby
    • CricketBlack CapsWhite Ferns
    • Racing
    • NetballSilver Ferns
    • LeagueWarriorsNRL
    • FootballWellington PhoenixAuckland FCAll WhitesFootball FernsEnglish Premier League
    • GolfNZ Open
    • MotorsportFormula 1
    • Boxing
    • UFC
    • BasketballNBABreakersTall BlacksTall Ferns
    • Tennis
    • Cycling
    • Athletics
    • SailingAmerica's CupSailGP
    • Rowing
  • Lifestyle
    • All Lifestyle
    • Viva - Food, fashion & beauty
    • Society Insider
    • Royals
    • Sex & relationships
    • Food & drinkRecipesRecipe collectionsRestaurant reviewsRestaurant bookings
    • Health & wellbeing
    • Fashion & beauty
    • Pets & animals
    • The Selection - Shop the trendsShop fashionShop beautyShop entertainmentShop giftsShop home & living
    • Milford's Investing Place
  • Entertainment
    • All Entertainment
    • TV
    • MoviesMovie reviews
    • MusicMusic reviews
    • BooksBook reviews
    • Culture
    • ReviewsBook reviewsMovie reviewsMusic reviewsRestaurant reviews
  • Travel
    • All Travel
    • News
    • New ZealandNorthlandAucklandWellingtonCanterburyOtago / QueenstownNelson-TasmanBest NZ beaches
    • International travelAustraliaPacific IslandsEuropeUKUSAAfricaAsia
    • Rail holidays
    • Cruise holidays
    • Ski holidays
    • Luxury travel
    • Adventure travel
  • Kāhu Māori news
  • Environment
    • All Environment
    • Our Green Future
  • Talanoa Pacific news
  • Property
    • All Property
    • Property Insider
    • Interest rates tracker
    • Residential property listings
    • Commercial property listings
  • Health
  • Technology
    • All Technology
    • AI
    • Social media
  • Rural
    • All Rural
    • Dairy farming
    • Sheep & beef farming
    • Horticulture
    • Animal health
    • Rural business
    • Rural life
    • Rural technology
    • Opinion
    • Audio & podcasts
  • Weather forecasts
    • All Weather forecasts
    • Kaitaia
    • Whangārei
    • Dargaville
    • Auckland
    • Thames
    • Tauranga
    • Hamilton
    • Whakatāne
    • Rotorua
    • Tokoroa
    • Te Kuiti
    • Taumaranui
    • Taupō
    • Gisborne
    • New Plymouth
    • Napier
    • Hastings
    • Dannevirke
    • Whanganui
    • Palmerston North
    • Levin
    • Paraparaumu
    • Masterton
    • Wellington
    • Motueka
    • Nelson
    • Blenheim
    • Westport
    • Reefton
    • Kaikōura
    • Greymouth
    • Hokitika
    • Christchurch
    • Ashburton
    • Timaru
    • Wānaka
    • Oamaru
    • Queenstown
    • Dunedin
    • Gore
    • Invercargill
  • Meet the journalists
  • Promotions & competitions
  • OneRoof property listings
  • Driven car news

Puzzles & Quizzes

  • Puzzles
    • All Puzzles
    • Sudoku
    • Code Cracker
    • Crosswords
    • Cryptic crossword
    • Wordsearch
  • Quizzes
    • All Quizzes
    • Morning quiz
    • Afternoon quiz
    • Sports quiz

Regions

  • Northland
    • All Northland
    • Far North
    • Kaitaia
    • Kerikeri
    • Kaikohe
    • Bay of Islands
    • Whangarei
    • Dargaville
    • Kaipara
    • Mangawhai
  • Auckland
  • Waikato
    • All Waikato
    • Hamilton
    • Coromandel & Hauraki
    • Matamata & Piako
    • Cambridge
    • Te Awamutu
    • Tokoroa & South Waikato
    • Taupō & Tūrangi
  • Bay of Plenty
    • All Bay of Plenty
    • Katikati
    • Tauranga
    • Mount Maunganui
    • Pāpāmoa
    • Te Puke
    • Whakatāne
  • Rotorua
  • Hawke's Bay
    • All Hawke's Bay
    • Napier
    • Hastings
    • Havelock North
    • Central Hawke's Bay
    • Wairoa
  • Taranaki
    • All Taranaki
    • Stratford
    • New Plymouth
    • Hāwera
  • Manawatū - Whanganui
    • All Manawatū - Whanganui
    • Whanganui
    • Palmerston North
    • Manawatū
    • Tararua
    • Horowhenua
  • Wellington
    • All Wellington
    • Kapiti
    • Wairarapa
    • Upper Hutt
    • Lower Hutt
  • Nelson & Tasman
    • All Nelson & Tasman
    • Motueka
    • Nelson
    • Tasman
  • Marlborough
  • West Coast
  • Canterbury
    • All Canterbury
    • Kaikōura
    • Christchurch
    • Ashburton
    • Timaru
  • Otago
    • All Otago
    • Oamaru
    • Dunedin
    • Balclutha
    • Alexandra
    • Queenstown
    • Wanaka
  • Southland
    • All Southland
    • Invercargill
    • Gore
    • Stewart Island
  • Gisborne

Media

  • Video
    • All Video
    • NZ news video
    • Herald NOW
    • Business news video
    • Politics news video
    • Sport video
    • World news video
    • Lifestyle video
    • Entertainment video
    • Travel video
    • Markets with Madison
    • Kea Kids news
  • Podcasts
    • All Podcasts
    • The Front Page
    • On the Tiles
    • Ask me Anything
    • The Little Things
  • Cartoons
  • Photo galleries
  • Today's Paper - E-editions
  • Photo sales
  • Classifieds

NZME Network

  • Advertise with NZME
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • BusinessDesk
  • Newstalk ZB
  • Sunlive
  • ZM
  • The Hits
  • Coast
  • Radio Hauraki
  • The Alternative Commentary Collective
  • Gold
  • Flava
  • iHeart Radio
  • Hokonui
  • Radio Wanaka
  • iHeartCountry New Zealand
  • Restaurant Hub
  • NZME Events

SubscribeSign In
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Home / New Zealand

Mother's pain after daughter attacked twice

Stephanie Arthur-Worsop
By Stephanie Arthur-Worsop
News Director, Rotorua Daily Post·NZ Herald·
19 Nov, 2017 01:37 PM5 mins to read

Subscribe to listen

Access to Herald Premium articles require a Premium subscription. Subscribe now to listen.
Already a subscriber?  Sign in here

Listening to articles is free for open-access content—explore other articles or learn more about text-to-speech.
‌
Save

    Share this article

Photo / Getty Images.

Photo / Getty Images.

"Because of you my daughter no longer speaks, is withdrawn and is afraid to go anywhere by herself."

That is what one Rotorua mother would say if she could sit down with the girls who left her teenage daughter bloodied and bruised twice in two years.

"I think I would probably be too angry to say much more. It still makes me mad, a year since the last attack. Why did they do this to my daughter - a girl who wouldn't hurt a fly?

"They do it because they think they're tough. They do it because there are no consequences. They think it's all a big joke."

The Rotorua Daily Post has chosen not to identify the school the girl attended.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

The Rotorua woman, who wished to remain anonymous, is speaking out after two Rotorua Daily Post stories about recent attacks on students in Western Heights.

"When I read about it I felt so sorry for those girls and I knew I couldn't keep quiet anymore. People need to know what's happening in our community and it needs to stop."

She said these attacks had been happening for years. Her daughter's phone was full of videos showing Rotorua students in uniform viciously punching, kicking and stomping on other students' faces.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

"They're ugly. It's yuck. I can't watch them.

"I don't think these girls understand the consequences of their behaviour. There are implications that last long after the physical injuries heal.

"Before the first attack . . . she would talk, have fun and laugh. Now her whole self esteem has gone out the window. It has changed everything."

She said her daughter was so affected after the first attack, in 2015, that she ran away from home.

Discover more

New Zealand

Teens feel unsafe after attack by girls

03 Nov 08:31 PM
New Zealand

Mum's terror as she hears daughter's attack over phone

06 Nov 05:00 PM
New Zealand

Residents patrol streets after girls attacked

06 Nov 04:00 PM

"I didn't know where she was, I found her once and brought her home, but she ran away again. She started hanging out with the girls who attacked her. Her thinking was that if she were their friend, she wouldn't get hurt again.

"It was an incredibly hard time. There were many sleepless nights, every night I would look out the window wondering if she would be coming home.

"A year later she was attacked again, in broad daylight on a main street. Nobody stopped to help. Afterwards we went to the school and the principal was really good about it, but my daughter wouldn't go back."

She was then sent to another school.

She said the parents of violent teenagers needed to "step up and do something".

"What they're doing is not right. My girl won't go anywhere by herself - that's no way to live. There needs to be consequences, the law needs to change to ensure there are consequences."

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Earlier this month, two families spoke out about a series of unprovoked attacks on their daughters, on the same day in Western Heights.

As a result, a community patrol was set up by resident Maylene Meroiti.

The patrol has been running for two weeks and Meroiti said there had not been any problems.

"They know we're out there. We're easily identified and they know we know who they are.

"On any given day there are up to four of us doing the patrols and we are getting children coming up to us to say hi, parents beeping and waving. The response has been positive."

Rotorua police crime prevention manager Inspector Stuart Nightingale said several of the offenders involved in the Western Heights attacks had been dealt with by police and referred to Youth Aid.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

He said inquiries were ongoing but he understood all the offenders were young women.

Nightingale said videos of Rotorua students fighting were brought to police attention from time to time.

"To set up a fight where the victim is going to lose, film it, then post it online is embarrassing for the victim and completely unacceptable.

"This behaviour is not limited to Rotorua, it's widespread. It is not glamorous, it's not something to be proud of and when it is brought to the police's attention, we do investigate it."

Nightingale said when the videos contained students in uniform, police approached the school to ensure it was aware of it.

"There is no grey area around whose responsibility this is. What students do in school uniform, whether it's inside or outside school hours, reflects poorly on the school in question."

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Nightingale said he understood why parents would want aggressive, bullying youth "charged and thrown into jail" but that was not always possible.

"If there is sufficient evidence to prosecute, we will and we do. But the rules don't always allow for that as we have to take into account the age and maturity of the child."

Speaking generally, John Paul College principal Patrick Walsh said there had been a few incidents this year where his students had been accosted by other students on the way to and from school.

"In light of these incidents we have advised students to walk in pairs, stick to main roads, call 111 if they are being threatened and if possible, take a photo of the person threatening them.

"There has always been an element of violence but it appears these assaults are becoming more premeditated. These youth are taking perverse delight in filming these fights and sharing them on social media, which then re-victimises the person who was attacked.

"It is an issue that needs to be addressed by both schools and police. If videos surfaced where these students were attacking others and were identified as John Paul College students, there would be disciplinary action. Schools need to step up."

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Save

    Share this article

Latest from New Zealand

New Zealand

Kea Kids News: Tamariki in Te Aroha prepare for their Matariki show

OpinionUpdated

NZ Herald comments: The stories open for discussion today

17 Jun 09:12 PM
Politics

Takeover powers - Govt can override councils under RMA shake-up

17 Jun 09:07 PM

Jono and Ben brew up a tea-fuelled adventure in Sri Lanka

sponsored
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Latest from New Zealand

Kea Kids News: Tamariki in Te Aroha prepare for their Matariki show

Kea Kids News: Tamariki in Te Aroha prepare for their Matariki show

Reporter Sarah-Jane is at Te Aroha Primary School, where the kapa haka group is learning a new waiata just in time to ring in Matariki. Video / Kea Kids News

NZ Herald comments: The stories open for discussion today

NZ Herald comments: The stories open for discussion today

17 Jun 09:12 PM
Takeover powers - Govt can override councils under RMA shake-up

Takeover powers - Govt can override councils under RMA shake-up

17 Jun 09:07 PM
Wapiti burger takes Rotorua eatery to Wild Food Challenge final

Wapiti burger takes Rotorua eatery to Wild Food Challenge final

17 Jun 08:58 PM
Help for those helping hardest-hit
sponsored

Help for those helping hardest-hit

NZ Herald
  • About NZ Herald
  • Meet the journalists
  • Newsletters
  • Classifieds
  • Help & support
  • Contact us
  • House rules
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of use
  • Competition terms & conditions
  • Our use of AI
Subscriber Services
  • NZ Herald e-editions
  • Daily puzzles & quizzes
  • Manage your digital subscription
  • Manage your print subscription
  • Subscribe to the NZ Herald newspaper
  • Subscribe to Herald Premium
  • Gift a subscription
  • Subscriber FAQs
  • Subscription terms & conditions
  • Promotions and subscriber benefits
NZME Network
  • The New Zealand Herald
  • The Northland Age
  • The Northern Advocate
  • Waikato Herald
  • Bay of Plenty Times
  • Rotorua Daily Post
  • Hawke's Bay Today
  • Whanganui Chronicle
  • Viva
  • NZ Listener
  • Newstalk ZB
  • BusinessDesk
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • iHeart Radio
  • Restaurant Hub
NZME
  • About NZME
  • NZME careers
  • Advertise with NZME
  • Digital self-service advertising
  • Book your classified ad
  • Photo sales
  • NZME Events
  • © Copyright 2025 NZME Publishing Limited
TOP