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https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/300...nga-ora-to-act
Feilding women terrorised by neighbour plead for police and Kāinga Ora to act
George Heagney
05:00, Feb 19 2022
Two Manawatū women feel imprisoned in their own homes after being terrorised by a neighbour and want the police and Kāinga Ora to act.
Caroline Hay and Sherryl Jones live in Kāinga Ora housing in Feilding and share a driveway with a man, who is also in Kāinga Ora housing.
They say the man has been terrorising them, threatening them and damaging their property, and both the police or Kāinga Ora told them there is nothing they can do. They want him to be evicted.
“I’m at my wits’ end,” Jones said. “What has to happen before [Kāinga Ora] do something? Does he have to kill us or maim us?”
The man is due to appear in the Palmerston North District Court at the end of next month. Stuff has chosen not to name him.
She said the problems started when the man came to Hay’s house in July threatening to kill her and smashing her property with an iron bar until police took him away.
Since that incident the man’s house had been empty, but he was still the tenant, she said.
No-one was home when Stuff visited.
She said the man appeared at her house last Friday, having left the mental health ward at Palmerston North Hospital.
Hay told him to leave, which he did, and the police unsuccessfully searched for him. But now she is afraid of leaving her house.
Jones said she had been racially abused by the man, had one of her car tyres slashed, her garage damaged, and the man pulled her brother out of a car in the driveway and started attacking him.
They had previously been on good terms, but Jones believed the man blamed her for his cat going missing.
“He came over and abused me, called me a black so-and-so in front of my granddaughter. He just kept on going. I’ve reported him to Kāinga Ora so many times that I get frustrated.”
Hay said she asked police to do something, but they told her there was nothing they could do.
“He doesn't go back to court until March. We are in prison in our own home and he's walking free.”
Hay, who lives with her autistic adult son, said the man was tormenting them.
“He’s so unpredictable. We’re both scared and petrified.”
Kāinga Ora’s Taranaki, Manawatū and Horowhenua regional director Graeme Broderick said it was a complex situation and he could not go into specifics without privacy waivers from all parties.
“We are working closely with our customers and closely alongside other agencies to ensure we come to a solution that best supports everyone involved.”
He said Kāinga Ora was committed to maintaining tenancies where possible and achieving “positive outcomes” for tenants and the community.
New provisions in the Residential Tenancies Act will be used for “the most severe and persistent disruptive behaviour” where Kāinga Ora can give tenants a warning for “serious disruptive behaviour”.
If a tenant receives three warnings within 90 days, Kāinga Ora can apply to the Tenancy Tribunal to end the tenancy.
Broderick said they did not want to make people homeless so would offer alternative housing and each case would be managed by Kāinga Ora.
MidCentral District Health Board’s operations lead for acute and specialist mental health Jon Gullidge said people admitted to the mental health ward under the Mental Health Act were able to leave if agreed to with staff, but those not admitted under the act could leave more freely.
People leaving the ward were assessed.
“Where anyone leaves the ward without leave or overstays their leave, we work with their next of kin and NZ Police to resolve this.”
A police media spokeswoman said due to privacy reasons, she could not respond to queries about whether a person was under investigation.