KEY POINTS:
A Hawkes Bay family who suspect a gang of bullying girls was behind an arson at their Onekawa home have made it clear they are not intimidated.
"We ain't going to move out," the father of four girls and a little boy, who did not want to be named, said yesterday.
"They want us to move out because they want to own this street. They want to rule this street."
He said "they" were a group of girls aged between about 12 to 17, who had taken a dislike to his daughters.
Their main target was his 15-year-old, who like his other daughters just "wants to get on with her life" and have nothing to do with the bullies.
"This has been going on for about two years," the father said. "It's girly-girly stuff ... It boils down to jealousy. We are a good family ... We try to keep our girls away from it."
But he added his girls had strong spirits and were not prepared to join in the street culture the gang of girls indulged in.
He said the family's Housing New Zealand home and their car had been the target of tagging in the past but the early morning arson on Thursday had gone too far.
"What really ticks me is that my little boy was here asleep. Another few minutes and the fire would have taken off."
Luckily it was spotted by a neighbour across the road who ran over and pounded on the door. The father had been asleep and his wife answered the door, to be told by the neighbour to "grab a bucket".
In the wake of the incident the man's daughter had gone to stay with a relative but would be returning. "I have told her not to react to them. Just stay back. Keep your head on your shoulders and just be yourself."
It was an attitude the whole family had taken, although he conceded his wife was feeling shaken.
"I have been here for six years and I will stand my ground."
The arson is being investigated by the Napier CIB. It appears kerosene may have been used to start the fire.
- Hawke's Bay Today
