Burglary victim vows never to open door to help strangers again

The victim of a burglary won't be opening her door to help any strangers ever again, after the elderly woman let four men inside to get a drink and use the toilet.

Keanu Ngaio Taurerewa, 19, pleaded guilty to a charge of burglary under $500 in the Wanganui District Court in front of Judge Dugald Matheson.

Taurerewa and three associates talked their way into a 79-year-old woman's house, only to immediately start going through her drawers looking for valuables once inside.

After he was caught, a summary of facts says Taurerewa told police they went to the woman's house to "knock her over" and take her money.

About 3pm on March 19 this year, Taurerewa and his associates went to a central city address and asked if they could get a drink of water and use the toilet.

Once inside, Taurerewa started searching the house for small valuable items to take while his friends tried to distract the victim.

She began to feel frightened, and asked them to leave. Once she managed to get three of the people out, she immediately locked the door, not realising Taurerewa was still upstairs.

Shortly after, she saw him come downstairs and she asked him to leave.

He refused, and she grabbed his arm. He told her not to touch him and that he was in a gang, then asked her where her wallet was hidden.

Taurerewa then left, and between him and his associates, her house keys and a CD player were taken. The CD player was later found with Taurerewa, but the keys were not recovered.

Reparation is sought for the changing of locks on the woman's home.

The victim said she told them they were trespassing a number of times in her attempts to get them to leave. She was scared, but she "wasn't going to let them know".

She felt that if she showed how scared she was, they might have hit her. She called police shortly after the last man had gone.

Her friends had upbraided her for letting the group come in, and she wouldn't be doing it again, she said. Taurerewa was remanded on bail for sentence on July 16.