Arresting performance at market

THE OTHER FOOT: Constable Simon Wihongi and Detective Sergeant Trevor Beatson getting a taste of their own medicine.

Blue Light fundraiser nets big haul

Bay of Islands-Whangaroa Community Board member and organic farmer Marty Robinson was arrested on Saturday morning on suspicion of growing a dodgy crop. And he wasn't alone.

He was one of a number of ne'er do wells who were caught up in a police dragnet, conducted with sirens and loud hailers to attract as much attention as possible. Marty was actually dragged from his market stall at Kerikeri's old packhouse, amusing, and in some cases reportedly confusing market patrons.

There was no real cause for concern though. He and others were apprehended on trumped-up charges as their part in a Blue Light fundraiser.

The idea was that the arrestees would be released from the temporary cells in Kaitaia and Waipapa once someone paid their bail. That happened more quickly for some than for others; in Kaitaia Jason Reti waited patiently for his wife to do the decent thing. And waited. And waited. By all accounts she took her time.

Some didn't go as quietly as others. In Kaitaia, district councillor Dave Collard and BNZ manager Leonie Rogers did a runner, Leonie also smuggling a water pistol into the cell with her.

A warrant was issued for the arrest of Chief Fire Officer Colin Kitchen, who didn't turn up, Senior Constable Rowena Critchley-Jones saying anyone was welcome to execute the warrant wherever and whenever they felt so moved to do.

Maureen Te Paa reckoned she had flu and couldn't be locked up, so had to raise double her bail for making excuses to the judge.

Meanwhile in Waipapa, musician Troy Kingi was spotted loitering suspiciously outside a butcher's shop, councillors Willow-Jean Prime and Di Maxwell were accused of pilfering from a second-hand bookshop, and TV fishing show host Graeme Sinclair claimed he was a conscientious objector (but fellow inmates thought his arrest had something to do with under-size snapper).

All five spent part of the day 'Doing Time for Youth,' rumour having it that Dion Prime was donating a dollar to keep his wife locked up for every dollar given to free her.

Heavy rain may have helped rather than hindered the fundraiser as people flocked to The Warehouse in both towns rather than heading outdoors, but it turned Kaitaia's Saturday market into a washout. For all that, Kaitaia raised more than $1000, with the $1 donations The Warehouse was inviting its customers to make yet to be counted. (Waipapa raised $1819).

Constable Rob Cameron, a Youth Aid officer in Kerikeri, said proceeds would be used for a range of youth activities, including a weekend away for the victims of serious crime, with a focus on children, trips for at-risk youth to a Blue Light camp with Kaeo Constable Richard Avery, and a new waka ama club for young people in Paihia and Waitangi, modelled on the successful club started by Blue Light at Te Tii.

"For a rainy day like this, the money's just poured in. And what a great bunch of volunteers, giving up their day to help kids in our community," he said.

A sausage sizzle organised by the ladies of the Paihia-Waitangi Waka Ama Club added to the coffers.

In Kaitaia, Senior Constable Critchley-Jones thanked the Lions for organising the sausage sizzle, Blue Light youth and volunteers for shaking the donation buckets, and The Warehouse for the premises, its 'add a dollar' campaign and raffles on behalf of Kaitaia Blue Light Youth activities.