KEY POINTS:
Five years of vandal attacks on a distinctive "cactus" letterbox in Hawkes Bay have taken a sinister turn that could have cost a life.
"This is just crazy stuff," said CIB detective Emmet Lynch of the latest explosives attack on Taradale resident Harry Ziebe's quirky letterbox, which locals have affectionately dubbed "Mr Prickle".
Previous attacks on the green plaster cactus character, which stands in the centre of the Ziebes' property in Church Rd, have involved everything from small sparkler bombs and graffiti through to smashing off the concrete and plaster limbs and uprooting it.
"He's had a real run of it. It's being targeted for no good reason," Mr Lynch said.
What has unsettled residents in the area and alarmed police is that those responsible for the latest attempt to damage the letterbox on Saturday night used a type of plastic gel explosive and detonator.
They were items available only to people who had a licence to possess explosives and the appropriate "ticket" to use it.
"These [explosives] come in blocks and our main concern is that there is more of it out there."
It was the intervention of a neighbour, who became suspicious about a youth walking by the house several times around 11pm, which prevented an explosion.
The neighbour, aware of the previous attacks on the letterbox, walked over and challenged the youth, asking what he was up to.
He then spotted wires coming from the letterbox and called back to his wife to call the police.
He told the youth to lie down on the grass, which he did. But only until a car appeared out of nearby Warwick Cres and the driver approached - hauling his accomplice to his feet. The pair then sped off.
Police were unable to track them and, after having a close look at the letterbox, they sealed off the area and called the Army for help.
Explosives experts from Trentham arrived early yesterday and found a golf ball-sized chunk of plastic explosive pushed into a corner of the letterbox. A detonator, with 10m-long wires attached, was stuck into it.
"All it needed was an electrical charge to set it off," Mr Lynch said.
Had the charge gone off with anyone within five metres the results could have been fatal, an Army spokesman said.
One of the culprits left behind good forensic evidence in the putty-like explosive, which is normally used by excavators or farmers to destroy tree stumps.
Police want to hear from anyone who may have seen one or two youths acting suspiciously in the area, or may have heard "loose talk" about what had happened.
The youth the neighbour detained was described as European, of skinny build and about 1.77m tall.
The Ziebes were away at the time of the incident and could not be reached yesterday for comment.
- HAWKE'S BAY TODAY
