Injured Marist student was trying to stop fight: Principal

Injured Marist Brothers High School student Mareko Kunau was trying to stop a fight when he got injured and hospitalised. In a message from school principal Akuila Vute to teachers, he said two boys broke into the Marist Old Boys Association (MOBA) Secretariat to square off after a disagreement in the classroom.

“The other boys came in to stop the fight, including Mareko Kunau the injured boy. The President MOBA came in to chase them out,” Mr Vute said.

“In the process he punched the poor boy. There was no kicking, only punching.”

He said the report was prepared for the Ministry of Education.

“We have always informed our boys that the Secretariat is out of bounds. Unfortunately, this incident occurred,” Mr Vute told the teachers.

“The two boys who fought were spoken to on the severity of what they did and they had reconciled and very remorseful for their stupid action that led to the injury of the boy who went in to try and stop the fight.

“We still need to charge them all for Grade One offence, including trespassing into the Secretariat.” Mr Vute said the two boys and the whole school should now move on and not be bogged down by this story, but take precautions to another level.

He told the teachers to be faithful to staff duties and be accountable for incidents that occur under their supervision.

“Let’s focus now on better things. We have other important issues to deal with such as Term One Exams, U17 rugby league quarter finals and Coca Cola Games and this incident will not dampen our Marist spirit a bit,” Mr Vute told teachers.

Police are investigating the situation and have yet to arrest anyone.