A Papamoa mum is warning the public to be careful after her teenage daughter was attacked by a group of girls.
The 14-year-old lost clumps of hair and hit her head on the floor so hard, she is now suffering from severe headaches.
The mother of the girl, who wished to remain anonymous, says the incident happened near Papamoa Plaza.
'These kids have been doing it for months. They've got a trespass order at the plaza but they just don't care.”
The mother of a boy who witnessed the attack, says normally her son is 'pretty laid back” but afterwards he was pretty shook up.
The attack happened around 5.30pm last Monday outside the Papamoa Library.
Her mother says her daughter was randomly approached by a group of 8-10 girls who were 'looking for a fight”.
One of them punched the victim in the head, before the victim launched a kick to her attacker's stomach. She ran away but a further five girls appeared and chased her to the plaza.
'They dragged her by her hair onto the ground, slammed it into the hard tiled floor, and kept pummeling her.”
The mother of the victim describes the group as 'very brazen” who work by intimidation in big numbers.
She says the attacks appear to be random.
'They're not play fighting, they're trying to injure people. They don't care how much.”
The victim's mother, who is a trauma nurse, took her to the hospital to get x-rays and CT scans of her neck.
'She has a nasty concussion and gets severe headaches every day.
'I'm worried of the long term traumatic effects.”
Police confirmed they were called to the Plaza at about 5.30pm on Monday, following a report of a disorder incident involving a group of young people.
Papamoa Library did not respond to requests for comment, while Papamoa Plaza Manager David Hill says he's not aware of any incident at the Plaza on Monday evening, saying they get kids running through there 'all the time”.
He says there's no issue with safety at the Plaza.
'It's not a question of if it's still a problem, there's never been a problem.”
The victim's mother says a youth justice police officer is investigating the case and assured her action would be taken.
6 comments
Youth Justice System
Posted on 28-01-2021 07:20 | By Yadick
HAHAHA, HAHAHA . . . And that's how these youth thugs look at the system. It's not working, it's absolutely useless and needs a major overhaul. The adult criminal age needs to come down so these animals can be dealt with early and harshly. None of this mampy pampy Youth Court rubbish. They know they'll get away with it.
Where's that wet bus ticket
Posted on 28-01-2021 09:50 | By treekiwi
and a nice wee group hug and family group session when it's wanted. that's the only follow up these little treasures are going to get certainly not any real punishment. Adult crime = adult penalty, they are more than old enough to know what they are doing. Give them a few months spending weekends doing menial tasks and a curfew and then they'll have less time to attack people.
Tom Ranger
Posted on 28-01-2021 11:40 | By Tom Ranger
Agree with Treekiwi. Let the punishment fit the crime. But there is also the need to address why these young people are heading in that direction. I'd like to know if there is a correlation between parents on benefits and children behaving like this. Although I suspect I already know the answer. I think it is completely fair to say...If a particular household...children and parents are on a benefit and cause this type of violence. They should be made VERY VERY aware that they will lose the benefit! Even if temporarily. Or else we are paying them to spend time trying to hurt and steal from us! If the parents are in line to feel financial pain. I can guarantee the children will stay out of trouble as the parents will come down on them hard. They need their cigarettes. Make them all VERY VERY AWARE! Repercussions and consequence
thugessess
Posted on 28-01-2021 14:37 | By dumbkof2
wont send them to youth court or anywhere else. might infringe upon their rights
@Tom Ranger
Posted on 29-01-2021 17:51 | By morepork
Again you nailed it. WHY are young girls thinking that this is acceptable behavior? I take your point about hard times and frustration but it is really no excuse. We SHOULD go after the parents AND the kids. Agree 100% about reduction or removal of benefits if appropriate. Penalties need to be harsher and focused on reparation and repair, and they should be ENFORCED. If parents could face jail for offences their kids commit, it MIGHT make a difference. But the kids also have to be part of repairing what they did. WHY were these kids seeking to really hurt somebody? Why was there no intervention? People with phones don't even call the cops? Next, they'll have weapons... this needs to be stopped NOW.
Plaza Manager not 'aware' police attend incident
Posted on 06-02-2021 13:20 | By Omni
I'm concerned that someone in charge of the Plaza does not have A) a decent video footage system throughout (otherwise he would know about this & B) Has clearly zero communication with local police and about what is going on under his nose in and around the Plaza. This should be a safe place for people to visit, there should be security keeping people (customers and staff safe) and shops and their goods safe also. If there is a problem, address it, saying 'I don't know about anything, therefore nothing has happened' is rubbish. And as for the violent bullies, yep time for many hours of hard labour in some bright Hi-Vis vests along renumeration and apology for the victim and noted details on their very own criminal file for future ref. ZERO TOLERANCE for criminals and crime - and tough consequences for actions to help prevent this crime
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