Students were victims in brawl — principal

Manurewa High School principal Pete Jones says his pupils involved in a fight involving weapons were the victims.

People were left unconscious after the brawl outside Homai train station about 5.30pm on Tuesday.

Police had reports of up to 20 people fighting on McVilly Rd in Homai, a suburb of Manurewa.

A large number of people were fighting with sticks, bats and knives, a police spokesman said.

The fight dispersed when officers arrived. Police said there were a number of people injured and knocked unconscious, although there was nothing life-threatening.

Several offenders have been arrested.

Jones said the fight involved students from his school and others that were not.

“I attended the incident and worked with the police. At this stage it appears our students were the victims. We will continue to liaise with the police and pass on any relevant information we gather from our students.”

Jones said the school had been holding assemblies for all students to focus on “our school and community expectations, our values, consequences to actions and to remind everyone of all the positive things that happen in our school every day”.

“Our mission every day is to develop our students to ‘Be the Manurewa way’ and live our values of respect, excellence, whanaungatanga and akoranga . . . [we] welcome anyone who would like to visit and challenge the negative stereotypes of South Auckland so often portrayed in the media.”

Jones also added that six students from a fight at the school last week have now been stood down.

Dylyn Martin, 15, and her boyfriend, who doesn’t want to be named, were left battered and bruised after an attack by a group of male students outside a classroom earlier this month. The teen couple say they have been forced to stay at home after the school said it could not ensure their safety from the mob of students which allegedly attacked them. However, Jones said the wellbeing and safety of the students was a priority.

“Together we are working to support her return to school . . . we have a safety plan in place to support Dylyn’s return to school.”

Police and the school are investigating the incident. Jones said there will be a family board meeting next week for the six students who have been stood down along with their families. know what’s going to happen. “It’s a bit like going on a blind date.” The University of Otago Information Technology Services information security officer is a keen photographer — particularly of aurora.

He has been snapping aurora from ground level in Dunedin for many years and has amassed a large collection of images.

He said the city was spectacular to take photos of aurora because it had such beautiful landscapes which complemented the night scene.

But he is relishing taking photos of the aurora from the Boeing 767 tonight, because it will give him a much closer look at the phenomenon.

“We’ll get to see the different features [types] — more than we would from ground level — features such as the aurora curtain, picket fence, proton arc and stable auroral red arc.”

Nakamura said he would take several different makes and models of cameras with him, because each had a different sensor and lens, and each had different “strengths and weaknesses”, depending on what type or strength of aurora appeared.

The flight is the initiative of Otago Museum director and former Nasa Space Telescope Science Institute public outreach head Ian Griffin, and will be the first of its kind in the southern hemisphere.

Tickets were priced at $3950 per pair of window seats in economy, and $8500 per pair in business class.