Terrorised for being different

Way-out teens fear attacks from gang

ROBERT CHARLES

DARING TO BE DIFFERENT: From left Paige Geard, 14, Jorjah Paterson, 15, (at back) and Stevie Baker, 14, say they have been target by a student gang because of how they look.

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A group of New Plymouth teenagers fears someone is going to be killed or seriously injured by a youth gang terrorising them because they are different.

The teenagers say they are being targeted because of the way they look and dress and are considered EMOs by the gang which includes Spotswood College students.

The group members do not consider themselves EMOs but accept their appearance does make them stand out.

They have been physically attacked and verbally threatened in town and at school by a gang of mainly Maori youths who call themselves the EMO Killers.

Complaints to police and the school were not being taken seriously, they say.

Spotswood College principal Graeme McFadyen said the safety and welfare of students at the school was of the utmost importance.

"A recent isolated incident was dealt with promptly and efficiently, to the satisfaction of both parties, as is always the case," Mr McFadyen said.

Sergeant Thomas McIntyre said police took assaults and verbal threats seriously.

Police arrested two drunk teenagers, aged 17 and 14, after a clash between the two groups on Ariki St, on March 9.

Paige Geard, 14, said the gang travelled around in large numbers and was physically intimidating.

"I don't remember the last time I felt safe going into town," Miss Geard said.

"We are just scared of them seriously injuring one of us."

She had also been threatened by the group at school and on her way home.

Miss Geard said carloads of the gang's members waited outside the school gates for them to leave.

Jamie Hemarh, 16, who has been attacked by the gang, said they were looking for trouble. A friend of his was threatened by a knife-wielding member of the gang.

Mr Hemarh said he had reported the attacks to police but feared they were not taking it seriously.

"I don't bother going to the police anymore because I don't think that they are going to do anything about it."

The teenagers said if they ignored the verbal threats the gang would chase them and they had even had to shelter in pubs.

One teenager, whose mother didn't want him identified had been physically attacked outside his house and he believed the youths involved would go on to more serious crime.

"It screams of gang prospecting to be honest," he said.

Stevie Baker, 14, said members of the gang were aged from six up into their 20s and looked threatening.

"Some of these people are huge," she said.

Miss Geard feared things would get worse."I think that the situation will escalate until something is done about them," she said.

Mr McFadyen denied the problems were ongoing and said the school could not be held responsible for incidents outside its gates.

Mr McIntyre said police would investigate complaints of assault and verbal threats and take the appropriate action.

EMO FACTS: EMO is abbreviated from "emotional hardcore" which originated from the hardcore punk movement in Washington DC in the mid-1980s, coined from a band's use of emotional and personal lyrics. Style of dress includes trucker caps, long fringes for boys, short hair for girls, black clothes and tight trousers. Many sources say EMOs are often thought to be involved in self-harm.

- © Fairfax NZ News