Friends of dead girl say goodbye

By BRIDGET CARTER

High school boys broke into a haka to farewell Renee Brown at her Whangarei home today.

They were some of the 70 people who poured into the home of Sue and Warren Brown, the parents of the popular Whangarei Girls' High School student killed at a weekend birthday party.

Renee, 16, who did well at school, played sport and did not have a reputation as a party girl, died and more than a dozen others were injured when a car ploughed into a large crowd of teenagers.

Yesterday a large number of high school students, neighbours and cars crowded the small suburban street where the Brown family live.

The crowd watched as Renee's casket was carried out of the house and across the front lawn. It was driven to Te Hapua in the Far North for today's tangi.

But despite the crowd, the street was remarkably quiet.

People were no longer talking about the tragedy. Some were too distraught to speak.

Renee's father, Warren, said he did not blame anyone for what had happened to his daughter and said that life was too short to go around disliking someone.

Whangarei Girls' High principal Lyn Sneddon said many of her students were still in shock.

"I hope I never have to experience anything like this again," she said.

"What the girls have been through is quite horrific."

Those who turned up at the Browns' house today were just those who were very close to Renee, Mrs Sneddon said.

Some sang and one student played a guitar before students from Whangarei Boys' High performed the haka.

Mrs Sneddon said her students had been spoken to at an assembly and they would be supported by school counsellors and Victim Support staff.

"The whole school has been involved," she said.

"Although the younger ones were not there, it still affects them."

Police said that when they got to the party they found many drunk people.

Fights had broken out before the car ploughed into the crowd.

But Mrs Sneddon said she was tired of speculating about what had gone wrong at a party that was supervised.

A 19-year-old woman is facing 27 charges, including murder, in relation to the incident.

A Whangarei District Court order suppressing her identity expires at midday tomorrow.