North Shore attack: Police make three arrests after alleged 'racist' attack on teens

One of the teens allegedly assaulted says he feels "relieved" after police made three arrests. Photo / Brett Phibbs

A Kiwi teenager says he now feels safe to go outside again after police made three arrests following an alleged "racist" attack on him and his friends at an Auckland park.

On February 26 a group of South Korean-New Zealand high school students and South Korean international students - some as young as 13 - were playing a game of football at Greville Reserve on the North Shore when they were allegedly attacked, leaving several with minor injuries.

One of the alleged victims, who didn't want to be named for safety reasons, previously told the Herald he had been bottled and beaten as he lay semi-conscious during what he believed was a racially-motivated attack.

On Monday police announced three people had been arrested, and would appear at North Shore District Court in May.

Following the news the teen told the Herald he was "really happy and relieved".

In the days and even weeks after the attack he and his friends had been frustrated by a lack of police interest in the case, scared to leave their homes knowing the perpetrators were still in their area.

The teenager's family were originally from South Korea, but he was born in Hamilton and grew up on the North Shore.

"I am still scared to go outside, to feel safe being who I am in the country I was born in," he said at the time.

After inquiries by the Herald police acknowledged they had not kept the victims "up to date in a timely manner", and almost immediately reached out to them.

Since the arrests the teen said he now felt safe to go outside.

"Me and my friends we were all fearful something might happen again, so now everyone is relieved at the outcome."

The alleged attack occurred as the group played a game of football and people began drinking on the side of the field and touching the group's things, the teen said.

He said one of the players asked them not to touch their property, and the pair responded with racial slurs.

The teenager claimed "ching chong", "wing wing" and more racial slurs were chanted at those on the field.

A verbal altercation followed before members of the group allegedly attacked the students, causing two of them to suffer minor injuries.

Inspector Sunny Patel, Area Commander for Waitemata East, said police made "significant inquiries to identify those allegedly involved", and had now arrested three people: a 19-year-old male, 23-year-old male and 18-year-old woman.

"We hope the arrests offer the victims in this matter some degree of reassurance," Patel said.

A police spokesman said they were unable to comment on the allegations the attacks had a racial element as the cases were before the courts.

The 19-year-old male faces five charges of assault with intent to injure and two of common assault, and is due to appear in court on May 22, the 23-year-old male is charged with two counts of common assault and is due to appear on May 12, and the 18-year-old woman is up for two charges of common assault and is due to appear on May 7.