Outrage at home invasion of disabled man

Two men appeared in court yesterday charged over the home invasion of a mentally disabled man that outraged a small North Island town.

A group of men broke into a self-contained residential unit in Taumarunui and held the 59-year-old victim down with a blanket over his head as they threatened him with violence.

Police executed a search warrant at an address in the town yesterday where they recovered property believed stolen during the home invasion.

Later in the day a 22-year-old man and an 18-year-old man, both local residents, were arrested and charged with burglary and aggravated robbery.

Detective Sergeant Rob Savage said: "News of this home invasion outraged the community and we had an amazing public response to appeals."

"To now recover some of the items stolen from our disabled victim is the icing on the cake. It just goes to prove what can be achieved when the police and community work together."

Some items of property are still missing and police are seeking other offenders in relation to the home invasion.

The elderly victim was allegedly told he would be knifed if he moved from the floor.

Trust manager Weston Kirton said he was tricked into letting the group of men into his house.

He said: "He claimed to be "Jimmy" and started to make his way into the flat. [The 59-year-old] made it known he didn't want him there.

"A whole troupe of them came through the window, ransacked his place and took his television, DVD player, about 100 DVDs, cash, tobacco and food - anything they could pick up really.

"They stood over him telling him 'don't move'. They told him to say that the Black Power did it. They were trying to put words in his mouth and made him repeat it after them."

The man was so terrified that he stayed on the floor for about half an hour after the men left.

Kirton said they were "absolute cowards to pick on someone that's got a mental illness". "It's the worst offence anyone could do," he said.

The man was coping "remarkably well".