Editorial: Don't let thugs claim our cities

An attack that happened at Cornwall park on Sunday has angered residents who see the park as a family orientated place.

There have been a few attacks, some of them sexual assaults, in Hawke's Bay recently that have been rather unsettling.

Every law-abiding citizen wants to live in communities where they are safe and are able to go about their business. We want our children to play outside, our teenagers to walk about freely and our elderly parents and grandparents to live independent lives.

At present in Hawke's Bay it seems as if the criminals are determined to rob us of our right to enjoy life.

There have been a number of high-profile attacks that have angered most people I have spoken to. The sexual assault of an 87-year-old woman in Hastings last month was a real low point but now we have a 14-year-old girl who was sexually violated by two men in Cornwall Park, Hastings, on Sunday night.

Many people reacted in horror when they heard about this latest attack because Cornwall Park is very popular with families. It is very disturbing that the attack happened relatively early (at 8.30pm) and that the attackers waited until the girl had parted ways with her friend before attacking her.

Throw in the attack in Napier on a teenaged German tourist, whose jaw was broken, and you get a string of incidents that should not be happening in Hawke's Bay. This is our community and we must ensure that a few thugs do not make us too afraid to venture outside or to let our old and young go out by themselves.

The police are doing a good job in trying to resolve these crimes and it is up to us to assist them as much as we can.

If you have any information that may be of help to police in these cases, let them know. The sooner the perpetrators of these crimes are brought to justice, the better for us all.