Black-out ‘for burglary9

Press, 31 October 1984, Page 41

Black-out ‘for burglary 9

PA Hastings Two men bombed a power sub-station to black out areas of Hastings so they could commit a burglary, the District Court at Hastings was told yesterday. The men had earlier set off an explosion at a power transformer in the city, as a trial run for the sub-station bombing, Sergeant Max Jones said.

Henry Raymond Whatarau, aged 27, a labourer of Hastings, and Enoka Terus Whakaruru, aged 26, unemployed of Pakipaki, pleaded

guilty to a joint charge of wilfully damaging the substation on October 24. Whakaruru and a third man, Henry Joseph Karekare, aged 24, unemployed of Hastings, pleaded guilty to a joint charge of wilfully damaging the transformer on October 16. The police withdrew a further charge against Whakaruru of possessing gelignite, detonators, and a safety fuse. Judge Sullivan remanded the three men in custody for sentence in the High Court at Napier on November 23. The judge said when refusing an application for bail by counsel, Mr N. S.

Gedye, that the men faced grave charges. “They (the charges) must be of concern to the citizens of Hastings,” he said. Sergeant Jones said Whakaruru and Karekare admitted that the reason for causing the first explosion was to see whether it would black out parts of the commercial area of the city. The second explosion was done to black out the Omahu Road area for a lengthy period so they could commit a burglary of a machinery and chainsaw store.

The first explosion at the transformer had caused an electricity black-out to the

central commercial area of Hastings and the transformer had to be replaced at a cost of about $2420. The explosion at the substation had severely damaged the side of the transformer and control box causing much of the western Hastings to be without electricity for a lengthy period. The damage was estimated at $2240. Sergeant Jones also told the court that 79 sticks of gelignite, a quantity of safety fuse and about 600 detonators had been stolen during two burglaries of the Pakipaki lime quarry in September and October.