Many arrests in week-end of violence

Press, Volume CXVI, Issue 34048, 12 January 1976, Page 1

Many arrests in week-end of violence

A petrol bomb, rifles, a knife, and a broken bottle were used in violent incidents throughout New Zealand during the week-end.

In Christchurch two men were arrested with a petrol bumh near the headquarters of a motorcycle gang, and five youths were arrested after a brawl in Moorhouse Avenue early on Saturday morning. A man died in an Auckland stabbing, and another was wounded with a knife in a fight between Fijians and Samoans.

The police took two rifles from a man found outside a traffic officer’s house in Te Kuiti, and two persons will be charged in the Blenheim Magistrate’s Court today with assault with intent to injure.

Two young men carrying a home-made petrol bomb were arrested by the police early yesterday near the Olliviers Road headquarters of the Devil's Henchmen motor-cycle gang. They will appear in the Christchurch Magistrate's Court today charged with being in possession of an unlawful weapon. The two men were on a motor-cycle, but were not thought to be members of an organised gang, a police spokesman said. “We don’t know who the bomb was intended for. but we are keeping the usual close watch on the gang situation,” he said. There were two bomb attacks early last month as gang warfare flared up anew in Christchurch. One of these was on the Devil’s Henchmen house in Olliviers Road. Fifteen in brawl The police in Christchurch were kept busy during the week-end by what they described as an outbreak of “violent, anti-social behaviour.” Twenty-six persons —, including seven juveniles and a young woman — appeared. in the Magistrate’s Court on Saturday. Five of these were arrested after a brawl outside the Blue Star service station in Moorhouse Avenue soon after 1 a.m. on Saturday. They will appear in court today on charges of fighting in a public place, disorderly behaviour, and resisting arrest.

About 15 youths were in the brawl, and police reinforcements were sent to the scene after reports that knives and other weapons were being used. The youths scattered when the police arrived, but 10 were apprehended and taken

ito the Central Police i Station. I None of those caught were i carrying weapons and none •had serious injuries, a police I spokesman said. Inquiries into the incident were continuing. I Four youths arrested durling a disturbance at the i Mount Pleasant Community Centre on Saturday evening will appear in the Magistrate’s Court today on similar charges. The youths were arrested after a fight broke out during a function at the centre. Bottle wounds A 26-year-old Samoan will appear in the Auckland Magistrate’s Court today charged with manslaughter after the death of a man in Mount Eden on Saturday night. reports the Press Association. The man, who had deep wounds in the neck, died in an ambulance outside a house in Grange Road, Mount Eden, about 11.30 p.m. He was a 27-year-old Samoan. Detective Inspector P. J. O'Donovan said that there was a fight at the house, and the police later took possession of a broken bottle. A 20-year-old garden worker will appear in the Pukekohe Magistrate’s Court tomorrow after a stabbing near the Pukekohe Hotel on Friday night. He will be charged with injuring in such circumstances that if death had occurred he would have been guilty of manslaughter. Detective Sergeant M Jeffries, of Papakura, said that an argument broke out between groups of Fijians and Maoris in the hotel. There was a fight and later, after the hotel closed, there was another confrontation in • which a Fijian was stabbed in the back. Another man will appear in the Pukekohe Magistrate’s I Court on Tuesday to face a charge of assault arising {from the incident. The Blenheim reporter of “The Press” writes that two persons were arrested in Picton on Saturday and will appear in the Magistrate's Court in Blenheim today on a charge of assault with intent to injure. The arrest arose from an incident on Friday night which, the police said, occurred between Christchurch and Picton.

The police said that a girl, who had been held in a car against her will on Friday night, managed to get out and alert the police when the car was in Picton on Saturday.