Rotorua public bashings: Girl collapses after being beaten up near library, second attack in a week

Multimedia Journalist, Bay of Plenty Times·Rotorua Daily Post·

29 Aug, 2023 06:00 PM7 mins to read

NOW PLAYING • Mum of assaulted teen speaks out

Tashita Morey's 13yo daughter was attacked at the Arawa St bus stop in Rotorua last week. ...

A teenage girl beaten up outside Rotorua Library collapsed afterwards, the mother of a witness says.

The attack — the second on a teenage girl in the CBD in a week — has prompted police to increase their presence in the area, particularly after school.

The attack has shocked the mother of a 13-year-old girl left bloodied after being repeatedly punched in the face by a stranger in the same area last week.

In the latest assault, police say a 15-year-old was beaten about 3.35pm on Monday outside the library on Haupapa St. She suffered moderate injuries and needed medical attention.

Rotorua police prevention manager Inspector Phil Gillbanks said police would be increasing their presence in the area ”particularly after school”.

Three police officers and two city guardians were seen at the bus stop just before 3pm yesterday.

A Rotorua mum, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, told the Rotorua Daily Post her 15-year-old daughter was friends with the girl assaulted this week.

She said her daughter recounted how she had gone to Burger King after school but made her way to the library to go home while her friends went to the lake.

The girl told her mother that as she got to the library, someone yelled out to her that a girl was “getting a hiding”.

She said her daughter went to see that her friend was okay. When she arrived, a group of girls had their phones out and someone said, “Don’t jump in”.

The mother said one girl was beating up her daughter’s friend and another girl jumped in and joined the fight.

The woman said her daughter told her that she pulled the girls off her friend.

Her daughter took her friend and started to walk away but the victim collapsed, the mother said.

The mum said her daughter called her, saying she needed to be picked up.

She said she wanted to enrol her children in self-defence classes because of the violence in the city.

“We want to protect our children … our children deserve to be safe and to go to and from school safely.”

Gillbanks said police were investigating. The girl had needed medical treatment for her moderate injuries.

Rotorua police prevention manager Inspector Phil Gillbanks. Photo / NZME

Gillbanks said three girls assaulted the victim and it was believed the girls “may all be known to each other”.

Police had CCTV footage and would speak with the victim when she was feeling better.

He said police were “confident those involved will be held accountable”.

“While we do not believe this a random incident, police are treating it extremely seriously and will have no tolerance for this type of behaviour,” he said.

“We know that it is highly concerning for our community in light of the attack last week and we want to assure our community that we are working closely with our partners including the Rotorua Council and Oranga Tamariki to address these issues.

“We will be increasing our presence in the area and the public can expect to see this continue particularly after school.”

Tashita Morey, whose daughter was attacked last week, said the kids “know they can get away with it”.

“They know that when they go through the system, all they have to do is say sorry.”

She believed safety would improve in the city only when there were harsher consequences.

Tashita Morey's daughter was attacked at this bus stop on Arawa St last week. Photo / Andrew Warner

“I don’t think it’s enough … it’s a slap on the hand. These kids obviously need way more attention.”

She said accountability, no matter the age, would help with the issues within the city.

“We have to hold our children accountable for their wrong decisions.”

Morey said something like a boot camp could be a good option and counselling was essential.

The violence had happened to “too many kids already”, Morey said, and in her view it appeared “too late” for police to increase their presence in town now.

A girl, 13, was beaten at a Rotorua bus stop outside the library last week.

“It’s sad that it’s got to take that many attacks for [the increased presence] to happen.”

Her daughter was physically recovering well but was still shaken, with “a fear of going out into public”.

Morey said her daughter had her first counselling session this week and would return to school, starting with half-days.

Rotorua Lakes Council community and district development group manager Jean-Paul Gaston, who now oversees the community safety team, said the council’s safe city guardians were at the Arawa St end of Jean Batten Park by the bus stop when the attack happened on Monday.

Rotorua Lakes Council district development deputy chief executive Jean-Paul Gaston. Photo / NZME

This behaviour was “not to be tolerated and community safety is a priority”.

“We are doing what we can as a council to contribute to keeping our community safe.”

Gaston said the guardians did not have the powers of the police and could not physically intervene.

He said the role was to engage with the public, deter anti-social and criminal behaviour, de-escalate an incident, and call the police as needed.

“The guardians are trained in de-escalation techniques, which focus on talking to people to calm a situation: communication rather than physical intervention.”

The council employs VR Security for mobile patrols and Watchdog Security inside the library. Watchdog was employed for 18 months for foot patrols, but this recently ended.

The council employs seven guardians and is recruiting for one, and has four CCTV staff and is recruiting for another two.

Gaston said VR Security and the guardians patrolled the CBD and Fenton St daily, working with CCTV staff and the police to provide information, help to deter and de-escalate anti-social behaviour and crime.

The council CCTV was monitored, meaning patrollers and police could be alerted and offenders could be identified.

He said the council also contributed to community safety through the likes of Crime Prevention Through Environmental Design, including opening public areas so people were visible.

Gaston said a review of council community safety services has started and a request for proposals from security companies will be part of that.

He said it had yet to get under way and it would be inappropriate to pre-empt the potential outcome.

Mayor Tania Tapsell earlier said the calls for more police in the city were “even more urgent” and said the council had “gone beyond our core responsibilities” to address crime and improve community safety in the city, including paying for security staff in the area.

“It is beyond belief that this has happened again in such a short timeframe,” she said.

Rotorua mayor Tania Tapsell. Photo / NZME

“I wrote to the Minister for Police last week urgently requesting greater police resourcing to assist with visibility and responsiveness … I will be pursuing this with urgency,” she said.

“Addressing crime and disorder, and adequately resourcing police to do so must be a top priority for the Government.”

Responding to Tapsell’s comments about more resources, Police Minister Ginny Andersen said the Government had increased constabulary numbers by 1800 over the past six years and the police budget by 50 per cent.

She said her job was to ensure police had the resources they needed and specific concerns about the deployment of staff and resources should be directed to the Police Commissioner.

Police have been approached for further comment.

Cira Olivier is a social issues and breaking news reporter for NZME Bay of Plenty. She has been a journalist since 2019.