Maori warden faced mob

Press, 10 December 1984, Page 1

Maori warden faced mob

PA Auckland At 9 p.m. on Friday, amid the blood and fury of the Queen Street battlefield, Hine Grindlay faced the rioters and said, “Enough”. Ignoring her personal safety, the 40-year-old Maori warden and an elderly friend stood between the police in riot gear and the mob. As bottles and cans whistled over their heads, the two marched up Queen Street, hands outstretched, towards the huge crowd of angry youths. “A whole lot of people came behind trs. all holding hands. We wanted to stop the fighting,” Mrs Grindlay said today. She led the mainly teenage “peace group” of about 50 right up to the mob in front of the Town Hall. "I walked into the middle. There was one person in front of me with a steel drum, ready to hurl down at the police. “I told him to go home.” The youth did not throw the drum and Mrs Grindlay repeated her message to others in the crowd. She succeeded in persuading many of the youths to leave, although others continued the orgy of looting and destruction. Mrs Grindlay stayed on until early yesterday morning helping exhausted police to clear the area. At her North Shore home yesterday, Mrs Grindlay, the mother of two, said she had not been afraid as she faced the mob. She said she had talked the matter over with an elderly friend and they had decided to try to help. “The police were absolutely exhausted when I made the decision,” she said. Mrs Grindlay was attending the concert with a group of North Shore youths, including her son. She sent them home as soon as fighting broke out. The rioters were like animals, Mrs Grindlay said, but she was full of praise for the police. “They did a fantastic job”.