Police seek thugs behind vicious Kaikohe store robbery

CCTV images show four youths attacking staff at Kaikohe Discounter. Photo / supplied

Police are appealing for help to track down a group of youths behind a vicious robbery at a Kaikohe superette on Wednesday night.

Shortly before 10pm two youths entered Kaikohe Discounter, at the bottom of Broadway, and confronted two young men working behind the counter.

They were quickly followed by two more offenders, one of whom had a red bandanna across his face. They were otherwise undisguised.

One youth used what appeared to be a crowbar to threaten one of the shop workers.

Two others brutally assaulted the shop assistants while a fourth raided the till and the cigarette cabinet.

Kaikohe Discounter, at the bottom of Broadway, was robbed on Wednesday night for the second time in two years. Photo / Peter de Graaf

The victims were back at work on Thursday although one was sporting a black eye, a cut below one eye and abrasions to the back of his head.

He said he had been punched in the head then pushed to the ground and kicked as he lay on the floor. He was still in pain and had been unable to sleep since the attack.

The other worker, who also didn't want to give his name, said he had been threatened with a weapon, like an axe or crowbar, before he was also repeatedly punched.

He said he recognised one of the youths as a regular customer. It was the second time they had been robbed in the two years since they opened.

One of the offenders was wearing a red bandanna across his face which slipped down during the attack. Photo / supplied

Detective Sergeant Chris Fouhy urged anyone who recognised the offenders, or had seen them hanging around the service stations on lower Broadway before the robbery, to call him or Detective Treston Laybourn at the Kaikohe police station on 09 405 2960 or Crimestoppers, anonymously, on 0800 555 111.

''It's just another bunch of cowards targeting hard-working people who are trying to make a living in Kaikohe. It's something we won't tolerate and the people of Kaikohe shouldn't put up with this kind of nonsense either.''

The offenders had been hanging around in the area from about 9.30pm.

He believed they were locals who knew the store and its closing time. The outcome of the assaults could have been a lot worse, he said.

''It was a vicious attack on two guys going about their normal business.''

It was possible that more offenders were involved than the four that entered the store, Fouhy said.

The store workers said a substantial sum of money had been stolen because they had a busy day.

They had yet to work out how many packets of cigarettes had been taken.