Crimes leave Hutt ‘on edge’

Some residents are on edge after a recent spate of violent crimes in the Hutt Valley.

The latest incidents took place on Sunday when an 21-year-old man was seriously injured in a drive-by shooting in Stokes Valley, followed by the knifepoint robbery of an Upper Hutt pharmacy.

Those incidents follow two fatal stabbings in the valley over the past month, while in August a man was charged with the murder of 40-year-old Paul Te Hiko, whose body was found on a Wainuiomata residential development in March. Meanwhile, Lois Tolley’s brutal killing remains unsolved after nearly two years. Tolley, 30, was stabbed and shot at point-blank range in her own home in Upper Hutt’s Wallaceville in December, 2016.

Taita dairy owner Varsha Patel runs her business a few hundred metres from where 29-year-old Faapaia Fonoilaepa was fatally stabbed in September.

Patel said the climate of violence had left some customers in fear – one too afraid to take her children to the library.

‘‘People are telling me to be careful. I feel afraid but I can’t afford to be scared – I have to keep the door open,’’ Patel said.

Less than a week after Fonoilaepa was killed, 45-year-old father-of-two Glen Collins was stabbed to death in Upper Hutt’s Elderslea – a 37-year-old man has been charged with the murder.

Upper Hutt resident Michelle Bons said the killings had made her upset, afraid and on edge.

Totara Park resident Carol Radford echoed Bons’ concerns and said she suspected methamphetamine could be behind the spike in violence. While Radford commended police efforts, despite being under-resourced, she said others she had talked to felt it was not safe to walk at night in the area.

Hutt Valley area commander Sean Hansen said law-abiding citizens had nothing to fear.

‘‘Mum, dad and the kids generally don’t have to worry, even though there’s been some high profile incidents — the vast majority of our community can go about their everyday lives just as normal,’’ he said.

The Tolley investigation – codenamed Operation Archer – was still active while legal issues were being worked through, he said.

Although there had been isolated criminal incidents, Hansen did not believe there was a gang problem in the Hutt Valley.

The presence of gangs in Hutt Valley was not unusual and was ‘‘an unfortunate reality across New Zealand.’’

Wainuiomata resident Lovepreet Singh said he thought gang tensions had eased significantly over the past two years and the suburb was now much safer than Taita or Stokes Valley.

‘‘There are baddies everywhere but I think the average person feels safe,’’ Wainuiomata dairy owner Shirley Patel said.

Hutt South MP and National’s police spokesman Chris Bishop said there was always community concern when violent crime was well-publicised.

‘‘People are telling me to be careful. I feel afraid but I can’t afford to be scared.’’ Taita dairy owner Varsha Patel