Criminal charges unlikely after violent attack

More weapons used in school fights

Last updated 13:35 03/09/2009

Lynfield College Beating

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College students involved in two violent incidents where sports bats were used as weapons are expected to escape criminal prosecution.

A group of eight Auckland secondary students armed with a softball bat beat a 14-year-old old at Lynfield College on Monday.

In Porirua yesterday about 20 boys, from Mana College, went to Bishop Viard College believed to be armed with a baseball bat and allegedly threatened students on the rugby field.

Lynfield College suspended one student, who led the group, mostly from nearby Mt Roskill Grammar School, in the attack on the 14-year-old. Another five students from Mt Roskill were suspended.

The five would appear before the school's board of trustees next week, principal Greg Watson said in a statement.

The board would decide whether the boys would be excluded or allowed back to school under certain conditions.

All eight in the group were also being dealt with by police.

Some students had been referred to police youth services but none of the students would face criminal charges.

Kapiti Mana Area Commander Hamish McCardle said today police would be addressing assemblies at both schools involved in the Porirua "invasion" but were not looking at laying any charges.

About 20 boys, believed to be from Mana College in Porirua, allegedly went to Bishop Viard College at lunch time and threatened students on the rugby field. It was understood they were armed with a baseball bat.

Mr McCardle said by the time police arrived at the school yesterday afternoon, "there were a few Mana College students not in the right school grounds and they were ushered back to their school".

Police were now playing a role in helping schools to work out what happened, he told The New Zealand Herald.

"The genesis of this is between two boys in particular, one of whom is an ex-pupil of one of the colleges and has since moved to the other college.

"They had a grievance when they were at college together and now the grievance continues."

Earlier today Secondary Schools Principals Association president Peter Gall said anecdotal evidence of an increase in school-related incidents involving weapons was a cause of real concern.

"It could be a baseball bat, a cricket wicket, an iron bar, a hammer, a screwdriver," he said.

Mr Gall, principal of Papatoetoe High School in south Auckland, said people carrying such items, when questioned, would reply that they did so for their own protection.

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"Well, that's nonsense," he said.

"As far as I'm concerned, they don't need that sort of protection -- ever."

Mr Gall said his own school had been troubled by a youth gang that was "obviously working in a planned and co-ordinated way" in targeting students on their way home.

"They had hammers and stuff, and they were pinching cellphones off kids," he said.

"We got some good information to the police and they made four arrests and that cleaned that up pretty quickly, but the fact that it happened is a real concern."

He said the issue was a difficult one for schools to address and they had to be "incredibly security conscious".

Staff had to be active while on duty and management relied on students to pass on any information about unusual activity.

- NZPA