Police call for help identifying vintage railwayman's bashers

Police want help identifying these youths after an assault on a vintage railway volunteer in Kawakawa. Photo / CCTV

Police hope CCTV images of a group of boys on a Kawakawa street will lead them to the youths who bashed a long-serving vintage railway volunteer.

Mike Bradshaw, 78, known locally as "the train man", was attacked after he disturbed a group of youths ransacking cupboards in the Bay of Islands Vintage Railway Trust engineering shed in Kawakawa on the morning of April 29.

He was punched and kicked to the ground, suffering bruised ribs, a black eye and a laceration to the head.

Bradshaw said he didn't recognise the seven youths, aged in their mid- to late teens, which made him think they weren't from Kawakawa.

Now police have released CCTV images in the hope that someone will know who they are.

Kerikeri Constable David Brothers said he believed the boys in the security footage would be able to help police with their inquiries.

Although their faces weren't clear they were wearing distinctive clothing, which he hoped would jog someone's memory.

He urged anyone who knew who the youths were to call Kerikeri police on (09) 407 9211 or Crimestoppers, anonymously, on 0800 555 111. The images are also being shared via the Northland police Facebook page today.