Stunned locals pray for beaten boy
Family of critically injured 4-year-old urged to break silence on bashing
Adistraught Hastings community last night gathered to pray and sing for a little boy who was brutally bashed in his home. About 250 people attended the karakia in the play area of Flaxmere Park. The boy suffered horrific injuries at home two weeks ago.
He was taken to the Starship hospital in a critical condition and remained stable yesterday.
Detective Inspector Mike Foster said the incident occurred on January 29 at a house on Flaxmere’s Ramsey Cres.
The boy’s father, stepmother and extended family were present, Foster said.
“We can’t determine who was at the address when the injuries were inflicted, but they [his stepmother and father] had been home throughout the day.”
Lynsey Abbott, founder of One Voice Community Services in Flaxmere, who help victims of domestic violence and substance abuse, said she lived three streets away from where the assault took place.
She said she could not fathom how someone could do what was done to the 4-year-old.
Abbott, who organised a karakia, said: “I am heartbroken on all levels. Hearing about this 4-year-old boy who has been beaten pretty much to the brink of his life, I am devastated.
To those who have done this, the person or people who have done this, you hand yourself in.
“I can’t even imagine what the baby must have been thinking when it was happening.
“To those who have done this, the person or people who have done this, you hand yourself in.”
“Our hearts are broken and it is time for justice,” Henare O’Keefe, Hastings District councillor, said.
“But first and foremost, the family need to speak up, step up to the plate.
“In the meantime be compassionate, tolerant, love your children.”
He said there was no quick solution to prevent such incidents from happening again, but any possible solution involved the whole community.
“You cannot legislate the answer — good parenting is a good first step,” O’Keefe said. “It is our responsibility, not just the police or agencies, ours. Yours and mine.”
Foster said yesterday the child’s family needed to front up and tell the police what happened.
“We’re speaking with the family, there’s a lot there that we know we’re not being told because this child had some very obvious injuries and we simply don’t know how that happened. We’ve spoken with them [the boy’s parents], it’s the information that’s crucial to us that we don’t believe we’re getting.”
He said police had worked with Oranga Tamariki to remove other children from the home.
Lynsey Abbott, founder of One Voice Community Services