War veteran beaten up trying to help girl in distress

Evan McKenzie was attacked outside his house in Matua while helping a distressed girl. Photo / APN

An angry, drunken mob of smartly dressed teenagers bashed a war veteran when he went to help a sobbing girl outside his home on Friday night.

The man's daughter and his girlfriend were also assaulted.

Evan McKenzie, 62, was a victim of the aftermath of a teenage party at Tauranga's Matua tennis courts which was broken up by police.

Dozens of teenagers from the party went to a nearby park to continue drinking.

Mr McKenzie was attacked twice, once when he tried to help the distressed, drunken girl and again when her boyfriend brought back a mob of his "bros" to beat him up.

The veteran of the Malayan campaign and the Vietnam War was shocked by the viciousness and callousness of the youths.

His daughter Jillian was knocked unconscious and her boyfriend was stomped on the head when they arrived home in a taxi as he was being set upon by the mob.

All three were beaten and kicked on the ground, and it was only when neighbours yelled that police were on the way that the attack stopped.

Mr McKenzie, who survived a serious heart attack two years ago, lost three teeth and received bruising and cuts to his head and body.

The violence began soon after he watched drunk teenagers walking down the road past his house, yelling loudly and hurling missiles at a passing car.

Half an hour later, Mr McKenzie heard a girl sobbing loudly, walking up the middle of the road by herself.

He went out on to the terrace of his home and called down to her, asking if she was okay.

She answered that she wasn't, and Mr McKenzie told her he would bring his phone down so she could ring her parents or the police.

"She was as drunk as a skunk," he said.

Her boyfriend arrived with another girl, and the girlfriend and boyfriend started arguing. When the boy said he wanted her to go back to the park to join the rest of the "bros", Mr McKenzie said to the girl that she did not have to go and that he would drive her and her friends home.

When Mr McKenzie asked if they were part of the group that he saw going to Fergusson Park earlier in the night, the boyfriend started screaming and swearing at him. Believing the boy was going to attack him, , the ex-soldier grabbed his throat. The girl who had been a bystander then swung a bag full of bottles and hit him on the head.

A few minutes later he heard a group of at least 15 boys running up the driveway as his daughter and her boyfriend were arriving in a taxi.

"They came running over to me, and then it was all on."

When his daughter and her boyfriend rushed to help, the mob turned on them.

"The girls were as aggressive as the blokes, and that was what confounded me. It never occurred to them that I was old enough to be their grandfather."

When police arrived about 45 minutes later, while Mr McKenzie was waiting for an ambulance to arrive, he directed them to the park.

Mr McKenzie said the beating would not stop him from helping someone else in distress, although next time he might have a weapon handy.

Tauranga police acting Senior Sergeant Cam Anderson said yesterday staff had identified the alleged offenders and would be making inquiries.

Asked to comment on the attackers being well-dressed Pakeha kids, Mr Anderson said: "Welcome to the real world".

- APN