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Buddha’s birthday Page 5
A NAME YOU CAN TRUST! Thursday, May 12, 2016
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Vol 45, No 18
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TEEN TROUBLE: Members of the so-called Green Gang, which has come to prominence in the past few days after allegedly turning up at a family home demanding to see Photo Facebook a couple’s teenage son.
Are these your kids?
Mayor loses Dad P3
Teens hiding behind bandanas are becoming brazen and the community is pushing back after one mum spoke out against their intimidation. Nick Krause shines a little light on these wannabe gangsters, the so-called Green Gang
J Good start for St Kents P24
INSIDE Howick Village ............... P7 Feedback .......................... P8 What’s On .................. P10,11 Business profile .............P14 Our Homes Today .. P16, 17 Classified .................. P18,22 Sport ..........................P23,24 Join us on facebook TimesOnlineNZ Keep up to date with news on TimesLive at www.times.co.nz
ake is an ordinary teen who tolerates school and hopes to hold down a good job one day. Sport is a bit of a mission because he wears glasses, otherwise his aspirations are really not that much different from those of many other 15-year-olds. Studying and school attendance and all the attendant teen stuff is more than enough to occupy a student’s life. Jake (he wanted us to use his real name), though, has had to put up with constant bullying since his days at Somerville Intermediate. He contends he has been the target of bullying from one particular guy – Boy X – for more than four years now. The hounding persisted even after he changed suburbs and school two years ago. This former school colleague just wanted to bash him, apparently for standing up for himself. “I have no idea what for. He also messages me from Facebook
saying that he is going to smash me,” Jake told the Times. “I recently moved schools to Rosehill (College, Papakura). My first day there I got a message from (Boy X) saying: ‘Good luck at Rosehill. I gt (sic) a few connections there (signed with emoticons including a fist).’ ” Jakes adds: “I feel unsafe every time I walk around school and I shouldn’t have to feel that way in a safe environment.” It turns out Boy X is – or was – part of the so-called Green Gang, a group which really only became known to many of us last week after a concerned mum posted allegations online. She claimed drunk teens knocked at their door last Thursday night in Northpark demanding to know where their 15-year-old son (not Jake). Her son “is constantly being harassed by them”. She said: “Four of them stood at the door with bandanas around
their faces asking to see my son. When my husband asked for them to remove themselves, they kept asking for my son.” The concerned mum said a girl (Girl Y) with the group allegedly said: “He is gonna die tonight,”referring to the son. Our story created an enormous stir and generated much feedback on our Facebook page. The post reached almost 10,600 people. Some of the feedback apparently identified a number of the culprits, their schools, interests and friends. Girl Y even made comments confirming the ‘gang’ did turn up, although she and others contested some of the accusations. She suggested just two were at the family’s door and that Boy X – suggested by some online to be the gang’s leader – was not there for the altercation but did arrive later. Boy X, Jake’s alleged tormen-
tor, is thought to be 15 or 16, and lists his school as Botany Downs Secondary College but seems to have left there. The girl’s school is listed as Green Bay High School and the photo above is from her Facebook profile. She said she too has left school. There were indications online this week that the Green Gang was disbanding however a woman on a closed social media website posted this yesterday: “So have just heard there’s been another incident at Pakuranga College involving the green gang. A bunch of girls in the “gang” waited outside the college with wrenches up their sleeves in an attempt to attack a young girl. Luckily other students got to the girl and got her to the office before the gang got her.” The post has attracted dozens of comments however the Times understands this incident to be fictitious. ➤ Turn to Page 2
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