Kāinga Ora tenant accused of lunging at neighbour with ‘butcher’s knife’, threatening to ram family’s home with car

William Macneil outside his Beach Haven home, where a Kāinga Ora neighbour allegedly lunged at him with a butcher's knife then threatened to ram raid his house while he and his family were inside. Photo / Dean Purcell

An abusive Kāinga Ora tenant on electronically monitored bail is accused of lunging at a neighbour with a large “butcher’s knife” then threatening to kill the man’s family by ramming their house with a car.

Police were called to the incident last month in Auckland and arrested a teenager.

Kāinga Ora has described the incident as “distressing and unacceptable”, saying it can issue disruptive tenants with warning notices but anyone who feels unsafe should contact police.

National’s housing spokesman Chris Bishop told the Herald the incoming government will direct the state housing agency to evict disruptive or abusive tenants.

The victim, 47-year-old company owner William Macneil, has owned his North Shore home for 14 years.

He told the Herald he and his partner began having problems with the neighbouring Kāinga Ora property when new tenants moved in three months ago.

The tenants and their associates had held boozy parties with loud music and allegedly became abusive when Macneil and his partner asked them to turn down the volume so their two kids could sleep.

They called police later that night due to “yelling and screaming” coming from the state house - home to several young children.

Then on September 8, the tenants were “all on the piss”, Macneil claimed.

About 9.30pm, he and his partner heard banging outside, “like someone bashing up the car”.

They went outside and allegedly saw the teenager kick the Macneil family’s dog.

The couple confronted the teen who became abusive, Macneil said.

“He said, ‘I’ll f*** you up c***, I’ll smash you over’.

“I told him, ‘You’re all s**t.”

William Macneil says his state house neighbour threatened to stab him then kill his family by ramming their Beach Haven house. Photo / Dean Purcell

Macneil alleged the teen then ran inside the state house and reappeared with a large “butcher’s knife”, saying “I’m going to kill you”.

Macneil’s partner - a teacher at a local school - retreated inside to call police and was on the phone to a 111 operator watching what then unfolded.

“That’s when he held [the knife] out to Will,” she told the Herald.

“I’ll f***en get you with this,” he allegedly threatened.

The teen lunged several times at Macneil, waving the blade in front of him, the partner claimed.

“It was like he was taunting Will with the knife. I said to the 111 operator, ‘Oh my God, he’s trying to stab him’ because he actually lunged forward twice.”

Macneil grabbed a traditional Pacific broom to defend himself, swatting the teen on his back. The teen then retreated to his own property - still clutching the knife - shouting to his mother that he’d been assaulted, the partner said.

“His last threat to us was, ‘I’m going to go and get a car and ram your house and kill you and your family’,” she alleged.

Police eventually responded and arrested the teenager.

The couple understand the teen was held on remand in custody for several weeks before being bailed to another address on 24-hour curfew.

A police spokesman said officers responded to a disorder incident after threats were allegedly made on September 8.

“Police arrested the offender, a [teen] male, at the address.

“As the matter is now before the court, we are limited in what more we can say.”

William Macneil with his son Lucky, age 5. The family have complained to Kāinga Ora after a terrifying run-in with the next-door tenants. Photo / Dean Purcell

Macneil’s partner complained to a Kāinga Ora tenancy manager, saying the incident “left my family feeling very unsafe, and my daughter not wanting to walk to school anymore, for fear that he or his family will retaliate”.

Earlier this month she sent a second complaint about another incident involving a man from the same property who allegedly drove aggressively at the partner’s mother and daughter, forcing them to jump out of the way.

The man then began filming the partner “being aggressive and trying to intimidate my family”, she claimed.

“These two incidents have caused a lot of undue stress and anxiety for my household. We have had ongoing hostility,” she wrote.

“What does it take for Kāinga Ora to do something before this escalates any further?”

Kāinga Ora Auckland North and West regional director Taina Jones was unable to comment on the case, but said the agency wanted its homes and communities to be “pleasant and enjoyable places to live” – and the vast majority were.

“However, when disruptive behaviour occurs, we take it seriously and aim to respond quickly and effectively. We are addressing these distressing and unacceptable matters directly with our customer, using the measures we have available.”

Jones said the agency issued warning notices when necessary and most customers improved their behaviour.

“If there are any further incidents of disruptive behaviour, another breach notice may be issued. If three or more breach notices occur within 90 days, we have the right to apply to the Tenancy Tribunal to end a tenancy.”

Jones said Kāinga Ora liaised closely with customers, whānau and other support services to improve behaviour and worked actively with problem tenants to “understand the root causes of behaviour and support sustainable change”.

Bishop said his party had made its views clear on Kāinga Ora’s apparent unwillingness to take action against anti-social state house tenants.

“We will direct Kāinga Ora to evict disruptive or abusive tenants and those who continually fail to comply with the Residential Tenancies Act.”

Lane Nichols is a senior journalist and deputy head of news based in Auckland. Before joining the Herald in 2012, he spent a decade at Wellington’s Dominion Post and Nelson Mail.