KEY POINTS:
The 111 call system is again under attack after it took police more than an hour to get a patrol car to an Auckland home where two distressed and partially dressed teenagers ran screaming for help at 6am yesterday.
The teenagers - one wearing only a towel - ran to the property to call 111 after their first emergency call cut out. They said people in a nearby house in Haverstock Rd, Sandringham, had taken their car keys and held them in the house against their will.
The house is believed to be occupied by King Cobras gang members and has become what nearby residents have called a "house of terror".
Police, who were told not to go to the home the 111 call was made from because the occupants were scared it could identify them, are said to have arrived there anyway.
But in an apparent blunder reminiscent of the Iraena Asher case, they took an hour to get there and had received four further phone calls before then. The teens ended up calling a taxi and left before police arrived.
Residents at the home the girls ran to are fearing for their lives because one of the gang affiliates was caught trying to get into the property at 8.30am yesterday. He left when he was yelled at by a neighbour.
"It's one of these houses of hell. It has a long history," a Neighbourhood Support member said. "The residents in that part of the street are terrified."
He said he was concerned by yesterday's slow response from police, the fact that the first call was cut off with no one calling back to ensure the girls' safety and that police went to the home where the call was made despite being told not to.
He said he called 111 about four times and had to repeat details of the incident every time.
"I still think people's lives were at risk. It sounded to me like it was just a complete shambles."
The Neighbourhood Support member will be laying a complaint with the Police Complaints Authority.
He was further disappointed because the incident occurred just three days after a Neighbourhood Watch meeting during which police told residents to call 111 to report problems they had raised about the gang house.
Inspector Willie Taylor of the police northern communications centre said he had called for an explanation from staff.
A cursory look showed some inconsistencies in the details between the first call to police made by the girls and the calls made by the neighbour, which could have been a factor in the attendance of the incident.
But Mr Taylor said that still did not explain why it took an hour.
IRAENA ASHER
* On October 10, 2004, Iraena Asher called 111 asking for help.
* The police call centre dispatcher sent a taxi to collect her from Piha.
* The taxi went instead to Paihia Rd, Onehunga.
* A review of the 111 system was launched after her disappearance.
* Her body has never been found.
