The Hikurangi home partially destroyed by a chainsaw. Photo / Doug Sherring
The Hikurangi home partially destroyed by a chainsaw. Photo / Doug Sherring
A woman whose son has been charged with setting out on a rampage with a chainsaw says she stands by him.
Kaleb Travis, 25, has been charged after dramatic scenes at his mother's Hikurangi home last week.
He allegedly cut through the front door, then through a pole, causing theveranda to collapse, before slicing through a front gate and a takeaway sign. Police claim the hi-revving onslaught began with a dispute over a box of Steinlager beer.
It is also alleged he pushed his mother against a wall and pulled out a knife before being arrested.
Luana Travis said the allegations were "blown out of proportion".
"I support my son. He just got angry because the people that were in the house were undesirables and his box of beer had gone missing. He over-reacted. The veranda fell down because it was rotten," she said.
She called police because she was worried about her son, not because she was afraid of him.
"The chainsaw stalled and I grabbed it. I never felt threatened," she said.