Kidnapper Adam Wardle threatened girls with screwdriver in Havelock North playground

A police officer in Havelock North after the kidnapping of two children in the town last October. Photo / Paul Taylor

This story describes assaults on children and may be distressing to some readers.

A kidnapper armed with a screwdriver chased a 13-year-old girl around a school playground, tackled her and pinned her to the ground.

Adam Wardle, 37, had earlier told the girl and her sister: “I’ve got a screwdriver up my sleeve. If you scream, I will stab you. Follow me.”

Wardle appeared in the Hastings District Court on Monday where he pleaded guilty to two charges of kidnapping the girl and her younger sister after accosting them in a school playground in Havelock North after hours on October 5 last year.

The girls ran in different directions to escape him, but Wardle caught up with the older one.

When the 13-year-old started screaming, her little sister came back to help.

The older girl was on the ground and curled up in a ball. Wardle grabbed her by the shoulders, picked her up and threatened her with the screwdriver while calling her a “stupid bitch”.

He swore at her again and told her not to try to escape or he would stab her.

At times during their ordeal, the girls thought they would be killed, raped or forced to do drugs.

After being coerced into walking with Wardle from the Havelock North Intermediate School Playground playground, the girls mouthed the word “help” to a boy playing outside his house. The boy ran inside to get his mother.

Another neighbour noticed Wardle’s suspicious actions and began watching the group.

When they got the chance, the two girls ran into a house, crying.

Members of the public chased Wardle along a road and into a drainage tunnel.

Wardle escaped from the tunnel through a manhole, changing into a dress that he had found discarded nearby.

Wardle then knocked on the door of another house and asked the female occupant to take him to hospital in Hastings to visit his sick mother.

The woman agreed, to get him away from her house because her daughter was inside.

On the way to the hospital, the woman saw police, pulled over and alerted them to Wardle in her car.

Wardle’s screwdriver was still in the vehicle.

A Crown summary of facts said the girls were not physically hurt but were emotionally traumatised.

Wardle, 38, who has been in custody since the incident three months ago, will remain in prison at least until he is sentenced in May.

A judge at an earlier hearing said that Wardle had a history of mental health issues.

Judge Russell Collins remanded Wardle to appear in the Napier District Court for sentencing on May 10.

Ric Stevens spent many years working for the former New Zealand Press Association news agency, including as a political reporter at Parliament, before holding senior positions at various daily newspapers. He joined NZME’s Open Justice team in 2022 and is based in Hawke’s Bay. His writing in the crime and justice sphere is informed by four years of front-line experience as a probation officer.