Editorial: Drug arrives at a small town nearby

When Clive community constable Alan Daly was viciously attacked on a usually peaceful street in the quiet Hawke's Bay settlement last July, we found it hard to fathom the brutality meted out.
After pulling over a vehicle in Elizabeth Pl, Mr Daly was allegedly knocked to the ground by a male attacker who continued to fight while a female attacker smashed his radio and phone before stomping on his eye and taking a running kick into his head.
The woman, Joy Leaf, 31, has been sentenced to six years and seven months in prison for her part in the attack. The man, Lance Pirini, also 31, has pleaded not guilty and stands trial next month.
Mr Daly, a highly respected police officer, came close to losing his life. He was left with a broken eye socket that required surgery and a metal plate permanently fixed near his left eye.
The use of P was linked to this attack very quickly and the sentencing judge said Leaf had been "caught up" in a world of methamphetamine and alcohol use.
This was an apparent case of a P-fuelled crime striking one of our small towns with little reason or warning.
But a few months later, in a completely unrelated case centred on Clive, a once-successful young businessman, Shane Joseph Stuart Daly, was arrested for possession for supply of methamphetamine. Police found 100g of methamphetamine (about four ounces) hidden in an under-floor heating system at his home in Main Rd, Clive, on November 30 last year.
The 41-year-old bankrupt was sentenced to three years and nine months in prison for having more than 100g of methamphetamine (about four ounces).
So the use of P, the possession of P for supply and the aggravated crime associated with it is not some "big city" problem. Nor is it centred just on our smaller regional cities. The P trade and P-related crime is rampant in Hawke's Bay and, as the above accounts demonstrate, has already arrived at a small town near you. We shouldn't kid ourselves otherwise.