Northlanders urged to look after tourists after series of assaults

Saturday night's incidents involving tourists included an attack on a group of female backpackers while they were walking on Hone Heke Rd in Kerikeri. Photo / File

Police are urging Northlanders to keep an eye out for tourists this summer after a series of robberies and assaults — two of them involving visitors to the Bay of Islands — on Saturday night.

The incidents included a robbery and extortion attempt of three Auckland men staying at a Paihia lodge, an assault on a group of female backpackers in Kerikeri, and a knifepoint robbery of a Paihia man who invited the wrong women home for dinner.

Sergeant Phil Le Comte, of Mid North police, said that about 10pm on Saturday three men visiting Paihia from Auckland were approached by three men demanding money.

Two of the victims were taken back to their room — understood to be at Peppertree Lodge on Kings Rd — where an attempt was made to extort their belongings.

In the meantime the third victim was robbed of his wallet, watch and car keys. Two other guests at the lodge were assaulted, one of them seriously, when they intervened and called police.

The offenders fled but police were following several positive leads of enquiry, Le Comte said.

Earlier the same night a Paihia man socialising with two local women, aged 20 and 25, offered to cook the pair dinner at his home.

But when they arrived at the victim's address, one of the women pulled out a knife, and the would-be dinner host's wallet and car keys were taken.

The victim ran to the nearby police station while the two offenders left in his vehicle, Le Comte said. The stolen car was intercepted by police a short time later near Kawakawa.

The two women were arrested and charged with aggravated robbery and will appear this week in the Kaikohe District Court.

Also on Saturday night, a group of tourists — mainly young women from France and Germany — were walking from Hone Heke Lodge towards Kerikeri's town centre about 10.30pm when they were attacked by three young women.

Several of the backpackers were assaulted before three local men saw what was going on and intervened. The offenders, who were believed to be aged between 15 and 20, fled on foot.

A police investigation to identify the three perpetrators was continuing. A tourist's car keys were taken during the assaults but was later recovered.

''It's disappointing that so early on in the summer we've seen a number of instances where tourists appear to have been targeted,'' Le Comte said.

''Police are working hard to ensure our towns remain safe for both locals and tourists ... and we urge locals to make sensible decisions and keep an extra eye out for those visiting the area.''

In September a group of Paihia residents, the Foreshore For Sure Letter Writers, called for security patrols and expanded CCTV surveillance, especially in the Kings Rd area.

Spokesman Don Mandeno said for some Northlanders violently assaulting innocent people, often tourists, had become a sport.

The frequency of such attacks put the Bay of Islands' prosperity and tourist industry at risk, he said.