Keep kids inside after dark, police tell parents

Police collect clues at the Otara Town Centre after the fight between the two groups of youths on Saturday night. Picture / Dean Purcell

South Auckland parents are being warned to keep their children home at night after two more street-gang incidents - one of which is likely to claim the life of a teenage boy.

Police were called to the Otara Town Centre about midnight on Saturday after a security guard found two groups fighting. As they ran off the guard found an unconscious 17-year-old lying on the ground.

The teen, who may have been caught up in the fighting unwillingly as he was walking through the centre, was so badly beaten about the head he is not expected to survive.

Hours later police were called to another fight.

This one was in Mangere where a teenager was left with a face so swollen it "looked like a rugby ball".

The youth, also 17, underwent surgery yesterday. He is expected to lose the sight in one eye as a result of his injuries.

Detective Senior Sergeant Gary Lendrum said the two fights were typical of the incidents Counties Manukau police had been attending recently.

"It's street gangs, roaming around with weapons picking on each other. It's just got to a ludicrous stage. Every weekend we are having one.

"My advice to parents is to keep your kids indoors after dark in South Auckland. It's got to that stage."

Mr Lendrum said police were still trying to establish which groups were involved in the Otara attack but it was believed there were up to 12 people.

One group was already at the town centre when they were approached by another and fighting broke out.

Mr Lendrum said there were unconfirmed reports the victim might be an innocent party who was passing by and got caught up in the fighting.

"He might have been trying to get a taxi or bus home or something."

In the Mangere case the victim is believed to have gone outside to help his younger brother who was fighting with a group of teenagers on the street.

"According to the doctors he was bashed with something that pushed his eye back into his head," said Mr Lendrum. "I don't think he is going to lose his eye but they think he will lose the sight of his eye."

Police are yet to determine what weapon was used in that case but Mr Lendrum said several were found on the ground afterwards - including a tomahawk and a case for a sword.

A man who lives nearby said the fight had been building for a week since a family moved into the Ferguson St home.

The house is at the intersection with Chadwick Cres which is home to a group of up to 20 teens who go by the name LBC (Lazy But Crazy).

The man, who did not want to be identified, said the LBC boys roamed the street with their dogs and weapons, swearing at neighbours and looking for trouble.

He feared further problems now the fighting had begun between the two groups. "Last night was just the start of it - it's not over, especially if one of their guys was injured. They will be seeking revenge."

Mr Lendrum estimated between 200 and 300 youths were involved in South Auckland's streets gangs.

"These kids arm themselves with anything they can get their hands on ... and they just wander the streets looking for other groups to attack.

"A lot of them are on active charges already and they seem to be just out there breaching their curfews. We are locking them up left, right and centre but it just doesn't seem to deter them."

He is now calling for parents to start taking responsibility for their children, especially at night.

"It comes back to their parents ... [They] have to start taking responsibility and finding out where they are and what they are doing and stopping them from going out at night."


Challenge for 274

The weekend attacks happened shortly after Friday's official launch of the 274 Youth Worker Project which was set up to keep South Auckland teenagers away from crime after a gang-related homicide in Otara last year.

Len Brown, a spokesman for the 274 project, said he was disappointed to hear about the latest incidents as the project had been making good progress, especially in Otara.

"It's very easy to get the impression the place is only lawlessness out here, but it's not. We think we are making some strong progress.

"All [the latest attacks] does is just confirm we have got a major job and task ahead of us."