Originally published by Māori Television
A Whanganui whānau has been left shocked to learn a man has been entering their home in the night to sleep.
The Whanganui East couple Charlie Puohotaua-Williams and wife Taysha Puohotaua-Williams woke early on Sunday morning to find the man, believed to be a patient at a local Whanganui centre that provides help for marginalised people, sleeping in their living room.
"I woke up around 6.45 am, I heard a noise but I didn't think much of it. Then I heard a cough. It was weird, Taysha and I looked at each other: Did we just hear a cough? So I went to look and yeah, boom, someone was on my couch, crashed out," Puohotaua-Williams says.
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Advertise with NZME.Taysha Puohotaua-Williams. said she froze: "Because I was in the room with the kids, I didn't know what kind of things had been happening in the lounge. I just hugged my kids and told them to stay by me."
The 54-year-old man in the living room was arrested and charged with theft, and unlawfully being in a building. He is due to appear in the Whanganui District Court today.
Charlie Puohotaua-Williams said, "I just had to ask him again, once I walked him out of the house, 'What were you doing in my house?' He was open about telling us what's going on. The night before two others came to the house and they had showers and slept here."
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Charlie Puohotaua-Williams feared for his children's safety and believed the Whanganui District Council needed to better manage the growing numbers of mentally ill patients wandering the streets of Whanganui at night.
Taysha Puohotaua-Williams said she was horrified to learn the man is believed to have helped himself to towels and taken a shower while the family were away numerous times. "The guy was coming here like he lived here. He was lining his shoes up."
-Te Ao Māori News
