Teens bash railway volunteer
An attack on a Bay of Islands Vintage Railway volunteer by a group of teens has been met with anger in the Kawakawa community.
Mike Bradshaw was left with a head wound, a black eye and bruised ribs, after finding seven youths burgling the railway shed, around 9am on April 29.
Bay of Islands Vintage Railway Trust chairperson Johnson Davis says he is ‘‘absolutely disgusted’’ at the whole thing.
‘‘The community doesn’t need it, we would rather people get involved and not destroy it.
‘‘Parents have an equal responsibility to ensure their children aren’t doing this kind of thing.’’
Railway operations manager Bradshaw, 78, was at work two days after the attack, only wincing when he laughed.
He had gone into the railway shed to feed the resident cat, Grubby, when he saw three boys in the engine shed.
They ran off, but Bradshaw found four more boys in the engineering workshop.
‘‘They pushed me around a bit, one of them gave me a shove, so I gave him the cat’s milk and they knocked me to the ground.’’
He was punched and kicked, but was able to reach a shovel, and used it to strike one of the attackers on the head.
Bradshaw says the group were all aged between 15 to 20 and says they were not local because he didn’t recognise any of them.
‘‘It would be a pity if a band of idiots put potential volunteers off, when there is no need for it.’’
‘‘I’m disappointed they feel the need to do that - there is nothing in the workshop for them to steal.’’
Having been involved with the railway at Kawakawa since 1984, bar five years working in Wales, Bradshaw says there have been several burglaries but no one has been injured before.
Davis says the railway is one of two iconic attractions to Kawakawa - the other being the Hundertwasser project - which need community support.
‘‘The few [volunteers] we have readily and freely give up their time and this is the thanks they get.
‘‘The business case shows it could provide between 25 to 30 jobs in Kawakawa over the next two years.’’
Anyone with information on the identity of the youths should call Kerikeri police on 09 4079211 or anonymously to Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.