'We're not murderers,' say text bullies

The teenage girls accused of hounding a 12-year-old girl to death admit they sent her abusive text messages - but say they did not kill her.

"We're not murderers," a Putaruru College student told the Herald on Sunday in an emotionally charged interview yesterday.

"People at school are calling us murderers. It wasn't just us, there were heaps of things."

Yesterday Alex Teka's mother Deanne spoke out in the Weekend Herald about her daughter's death six weeks ago after she was bullied relentlessly by a group of girls not much older than her.

The vibrant, sporty 12-year-old became quiet and withdrawn at home after the bullying began last July. She was found dead in the back garden of her home and police say the death was not suspicious.

Alex's death has divided Putaruru, a town with a population of 3700. On the streets yesterday, groups of girls were crying while others yelled "we are not responsible for the texting".

One girl, pinpointed by others as leading the campaign against Alex, burst into tears when asked about her schoolmate's death. While the others denied knowledge, she admitted quietly: "I bullied her. I only texted her once".

The girl said the abusive text concerned a boy both girls had liked. Another of the friends accused of abusing Alex shrugged when asked if she felt sorry about what had happened. Others said Alex had been having problems with her boyfriend and that her parents' separation seven years ago was also an issue.

Yesterday Deanne Teka said that while Alex's problems were more complicated than just bullying - she had lost two friends and a family member in recent sudden deaths - the abuse played a major role.

"She showed me the emails and texts," Ms Teka said. "They were threatening to beat her up at school and saying things like, 'you had better not come to school because nobody likes you'."

Other students from Putaruru College admitted bullying was a problem at the school. They claimed there had been no school assembly to confront the issue since Alex's death although some students had been "taken aside" to discussthe problem.

"There is lots of bullying," one 14-year-old boy said. "The girls thought that Alex dying was a joke," he said. "Something needs to be done to stop it."

Principal Karen Douglas said action was taken against the girls involved when Ms Teka approached the school, and again after Alex's death. She said there was a zero-tolerance policy against bullying at the school but declined to comment further.

The girls spoken to yesterday denied text bullying was a problem and said Alex's death had occurred during the holidays, so it wasn't a school problem.

But parents said that while bullying wasn't just to blame, cellphones were a major part of the problem. One father, who asked not to be named, said: "They should ban cellphones from schools after this."

- HERALD ON SUNDAY