Caught on camera: Man on mobility scooter hurls racist abuse

A man on a mobility scooter has been caught on camera hurling racial abuse at a family out Christmas shopping.

The family, including a teenage daughter and young son, were at Pak'nSave Botany, east Auckland, looking at coffee machines when they were first approached by the man.

The family has told the Herald the man taunted them as they shopped and allegedly told staff "don't sell to Asians, sell to Kiwis".

His remarks were ignored but he yelled at them again at the check out and then when they were packing their car to leave, the family claimed.

As he delivered his final insults the 16-year-old daughter caught the man on camera.

He can be heard swearing and at one point yells "You heard what Winston said, you go back home.

"You'll be on the first plane home you stupid Chinese b****."

The family said there was no reason for the racist attack.

"We were just looking at buying the machines as Christmas presents because there was a special on and he yelled out 'don't sell to Asians, sell to Kiwis'," the mother claimed.

"He kept telling us to "go back home" and swearing at us, it was just awful. It was so upsetting."

The Filipino family, who have lived in New Zealand for more than a decade, say they initially ignored the man only to be followed to the checkout where they were abused again.

"It was terrible, everyone was looking at us and my son heard everything," the woman said.

"He didn't understand why this person was saying these things to us."

The family were "shocked and saddened" at the abuse and said it is the first time they have encountered racism since moving to New Zealand from the Philippines 11 years ago.

The family approached a store manager who spoke with the man and asked him to leave.

"The manager was really good about it and said he would support us if we wanted to make a complaint to police."

It was thought the man had left the Pak'nSave grounds but he returned to the carpark and was caught on camera hurling abuse.

"This time my daughter managed to get a little bit of a recording because we didn't know what he was going to do."

The 16-year-old said she wanted other people to see the video to show how ugly racism was.

"What surprised me was that he had the courage to follow us to our car and openly exclaim those horrible words," the daughter said.

"The negativity towards different races from around the world is appalling, and we don't need these people in our lives."

Store manager Kevin Landers had photos of the man leaving the store and he would be trespassed if he returned.

"I spoke to him and said he could not act like that in public and we asked him to leave," Landers said.

Landers said security staff were "keeping an eye" on the man and it was thought he had left the carpark.

Pak N Save spokesperson Antoinette Laird said the Botany team dealt with incident quickly and gave full support to the customers.

"The recent incident at Pak'nSave Botany is totally unacceptable. Racism of any form is categorically not tolerated in our business and we feel deeply for the customers who were affected by another visitor to our store," Laird said.

"The behaviour of the individual involved is not welcome and may result in them being trespassed."

Laird said Foodstuffs supports the Give Nothing to Racism campaign from the Human Rights Commission.

Race Relations Commissioner Dame Susan Devoy said she was pleased Pak'nSave had made it clear abusive customers were not welcome in their store.

"People have the right to live in this country without having to put up with this kind of racist abuse," Devoy said.

"I hope that if anyone witnesses this kind of attack that they let abusers know their racism is not welcome in New Zealand and we will stand up to them."

Race Relations Commissioner Dame Susan Devoy said she was pleased Pak'nSave had made it clear abusive customers were not welcome in their store. Photo / Dean Purcell

Dame Susan thanked for the family for highlighting what happened to them and invited them to contact the commission and share their experience via the That's Us www.thatsus.co.nz.

The website is designed for Kiwis to share their experiences of racial abuse and prejudice.