Tauranga retail worker Janeen suffered a black eye, among other injuries, after being bashed by 'feral' teenagers. Photo / Supplied
A retail worker bashed by two "feral" youths is seeking protection after the culprits returned to the store to carry on their campaign of intimidation.
The woman says she suffered bruising, concussion and post-traumatic stress disorder as a result of the initial attack.
She was working in a retail store
in a Tauranga shopping centre on September 27 when the two girls, believed to be sisters aged 13 and 14, entered. The pair had already been banned from the store for shoplifting but continued to visit the store
Janeen spoke to the Bay of Plenty Times Weekend on the condition the shopping centre where she worked was not identified. For this reason, she is referred to by her first name only.
The girls appeared to be planning to steal perfume but left when she and a security guard stood nearby.
When Janeen told the security guard to escort the girls out of the centre as they were banned, one "took exception to that and ran back into the store".
Janeen said the girl "came toe-to-toe" with her work colleague and began abusing her.
"She was right in her face screaming to her 'got a problem b***h?!'.
Janeen said the sisters had previously targeted and threatened her colleague but it was unclear why.
"I said 'that's enough' and put my hand in between the two faces - that was the only gap that was there. [My work colleague] turned around and was kicked in the back. Then [the girl] punched me in the head. I put my hand on her and forced her out of the store. Then that was it ... it was two-on-one.
"They were punching and punching. I have bruises all over the left side of my skull, bruises that came up quite black and blue. I had knuckles into my eye socket, forcing the eyeball to the back of the socket.
"They were absolutely feral, just swearing like I was the problem."
Eventually, the girls were pulled off Janeen.
In addition to a "massive black eye" and other injuries, Janeen now receives counselling for post-traumatic stress disorder. She now avoids gatherings of young people.
Janeen also experiences anxiety about 11am each day "because that's when they start to come in".
"Leaving, at the end of the day, if I'm not walking with another staff member, I get security," she said.
"It's actually changed me."
Janeen was offered time off, as was the policy with such incidents, but forced herself back after a visit to her GP and a day to recover.
"I had to make myself come back straight away because if I didn't, I don't know if I would've come back at all," she said.
"I'm not going to be intimidated by these little punks."
Janeen said she has had amazing support from her employer and the centre's management which was reassuring. However, she wanted harsher penalties to prevent such behaviour.
"When she punched me in the face, I instantly started marching her out of the store and her first words out of her mouth were: 'You can't touch me'.''
Janeen said the same girls have since returned to the centre at least three times, positioning themselves across from the storefront, pointing and laughing at her and he work colleague.
"It seems these kids can do whatever they like, and they can. There are no consequences."
Janeen was seeking a protection order against the girls.
She did not want to be forced out of a job by "thugs and bullies" and felt a lack of harsh penalties for young people only encouraged bad behaviour.
"I feel that if you are doing adult crime, you should be doing adult time."
Janeen said she also wanted to come from a place of compassion and acknowledged the girls might have a troubled background.
She did not want them to "become part of the system" but felt this was inevitable if their actions were not treated seriously until they were 18 years old.
Janeen called on Tauranga MP Sam Uffindell for help because she was so "furious".
"This Labour Government's softly, softly approach ... they are taking advantage of that."
Three weeks after the incident, Janeen still has bruising and swelling.
Uffindell said people had a right to feel safe in their workplace and ultimately, "the community, iwi, parents and whanau need to come together to hold these youths accountable and set them on a positive track before they become fully entrenched in the criminal justice system".
Earlier this year, Uffindell himself was mired in controversy for a teenage assault on a school student when he attended Kings College.
"The important thing is that I was held accountable and I was asked to leave school. It was a huge turning point in my life. If I had not been, I probably would have continued the way I was."
Bay of Plenty MP Todd Muller said there had to be greater consequences for people that assault others.
"Frankly, often younger people are acting with complete impunity. From their perspective, they don't give a stuff if police take them home and tell them off," he said.
Muller said he would like to see young offenders offered an environment with greater discipline "where they can see there's a different path".
He cited charter schools with a military ethos as one example.
"You can't walk away without consequences for your actions."
A police spokesperson said the investigation into the incident was ongoing.
In a written statement, they said officers had not yet located the young people involved despite "several attempts".
"We know how distressing it is to be the victim in an incident like this and we are working to locate those involved."
The retail staff were offered victim support and would be updated as the case progressed, the spokesperson said.
Asked why the individuals had not yet been found, another spokesperson said "police can only act on information received".
After the Bay of Plenty Times Weekend's inquiries, officers visited Janeen.
Minister of Police Chris Hipkins said that while he could not comment on police operational matters or on individual cases, "attacks of this kind are appalling".
"I offer my sympathies to the victim. No one should have to go through this."
Hipkins said the Government was taking a spike of youth offending "extremely seriously" and was increasing early interventions and wrap-around services and supporting community and iwi initiatives "to get to the root of the issue, which is often complex and multi-generational".
"We are also exploring evidence-based alternatives to putting these young people into criminal facilities, which usually hardens them and leads to worse victimisation down the track."
Minister of Justice Kiri Allan said that while people "understandably want to see offending punished, more punitive outcomes have been shown to be less effective in reducing offending in the longer term".
"The Government is working hard to address the underlying causes of offending and this will take time."
Allan said the Government's Better Pathways package that aimed to get more young people into education, training or work could help address complex and longer-term youth engagement issues.
New Zealand's justice system recognised the maturity of children and young people was still developing, resulting in greater leniency on younger people.
"Compared to adults, young people are more responsive to rehabilitation and appropriate interventions. This means our youth justice system is a powerful tool to reduce further offending, while still providing consequences for crimes committed," Allan said.
The shopping centre manager was asked how banned individuals were able to continue returning to the centre but the manager declined to comment, saying the matter was one for police to speak to as it involved youth law.
A disregard for authority could be why those attending court are thumbing their noses.