Police have fresh leads in their hunt for attackers who violently bashed a visitor at a Rotorua backpackers.
The attack at Xbase Backpackers on Hinemoa St earlier this month featured on the TV show Police Ten-7 on Tuesday night.
The victim, Mabeleine Pulman, a 21-year-old university student
from England who is studying in Auckland, said watching the programme was quite upsetting.
"It brought it all back to be honest in quite a horrible way," she told the Daily Post yesterday.
Miss Pulman came to Rotorua on Friday, March 16 with fellow students to have a fun weekend.
They had been at a few bars around Rotorua and were heading back to their backpackers in the early hours of March 17, about 2.45am.
Miss Pulman had forgotten her key to the front door so yelled out to a friend she was with that she couldn't get in.
A security guard in the backpackers heard her and opened the door.
Detective Herby Ngawhika said it appeared another man and woman snuck into the backpackers as the door was opened for Miss Pulman and her friend.
The visitors stood in the doorway of the backpackers talking to the security guard for a few minutes before he left.
As Miss Pulman went to grab her bag from a nearby ledge, she saw a woman standing there with it. The woman and a man then punched the visitors and they fell to the ground. Miss Pulman was repeatedly kicked and punched but her friend only suffered minor injuries. A third offender, who was waiting outside, smashed a hole in the front door of the backpackers to allow the attackers to get out.
They got away with a black shoulder bag containing a pink and white Roxy wallet with an anchor symbol on it. They also got a silver Nokia Vodafone mobile phone and a small amount of cash.
Mr Ngawhika said the City Focus CCTV camera showed the offenders climbing through the broken glass door to make their escape but the several people milling around outside the Kiwi Spirit Bar, only 10m away, didn't seem to notice. "We got eight calls from Police Ten-7 so I'm looking at a couple of things from that now," Mr Ngawhika said.
The female attacker is described as Maori, in her early 20s, stocky build, dark curly shoulder length hair and wearing a black Ellwood brand T shirt with the number "96" written large in white on the back and smaller on the front.
Anyone knowing who the two men and the woman are should ring police on (0800) TIPOFF, (07) 348 0099 or 111 if it's an emergency.
Police have fresh leads in their hunt for attackers who violently bashed a visitor at a Rotorua backpackers.
The attack at Xbase Backpackers on Hinemoa St earlier this month featured on the TV show Police Ten-7 on Tuesday night.
The victim, Mabeleine Pulman, a 21-year-old university student
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